


When darkness crawls upon us

by KimsyWims



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anders in trouble, Angst, Blood Mages, Bodyguard Fenris, Cats, Doctor Anders, Dwarves, Elves, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Healing, Humans, M/M, Modern Thedas, Past Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Violence, Qunari, Templars, dark pasts, gunfights, mage healers, magical fights, more tags coming up, threats of tranquility
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-23
Updated: 2015-10-19
Packaged: 2018-04-22 20:49:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4850066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KimsyWims/pseuds/KimsyWims
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anders is a mage healer at a hospital, he is also a man with many opinions and the wish to help everyone, not only the rich. However working his free days with patients in Darktown's clinic tends to make enemies who threatens Anders life and mental health. </p>
<p>Luckily Hawke knows just the way to keep Anders safe. He clearly needs a body guard and Hawke knows just the guy to do it. Fenris might be a brooding mage hating elven ex-slave from Tevinter but he is one hell of a body guard... that is, as long as he don't kill Anders himself when the infuriating human knows just how to step on his nerves. </p>
<p>Modern AU with Doctor!Anders and Bodyguard!Fenris.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter one: Anders.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anders works way too much, some people don't appreciate what he do. He meets with some new people and maybe he even makes some friends. With what the future holds for him, he will need them.

It was Monday morning and the hospital was in utter chaos, there was really no other way to put Mondays. Mondays meant that everyone who had got sick or hurt during the weekend that didn't need emergency aid came to the hospital today. It wasn't as if they entirely shut down on the weekends, only Anders floor. So the waiting room was packed with people, humans elves and even dwarves. No Qunari.

The reason there was no Qunari was that those who were inside the Qun would rather die than allow a chantry run hospital heal them and the Tal-Vashoth was simply not allowed. The Arishook had made it perfectly clear that if the rebel Tal-Vashoth was accepted by the city the viscount would be the one to pay for their betrayal to the Qun, the viscount was already under strain from the Qunari, as a peace offering they had been given a  _'temporary district'_ while they waited for... well, whatever they were waiting for.

Anders pulled his  hair out of his face to put it up in the usual ponytail. He supposed he could just cut it short, but he didn't want to waste money on cutting his hair when hair ties worked just as well, and when it was like this, he could cut the tips of his hair himself when it was needed. He took a deep breath before he looked at the mountain of clipboards for all his patients, this pile was just for the ones before lunch... Maker, he would have a tough day.

This floor, floor number three was of course the floor that almost every case was sent to. This floor was the mage floor, a team of six educated mage healers, four apprentices and a handful of non magical nurses worked there. That meant that they could heal things with much higher efficiency and there was very rarely complications. 

Healthcare in Kirkwall was outrageously expensive, if you didn't have insurance you just prayed to the maker you wouldn't get sick, because if you did get sick you would have to pay all you owned and more along with your immortal soul it would seem. Which was a huge problem because of all the refugees that came from Ferelden during the blight with nothing more than what they had on them while fleeing.

Of course since the hospital was a hospital and ran by the chantry and the templar order, there was things that didn't cost as much. If you just needed a flue shot, or anything under three stitches then you wouldn't need the help of a mage healer and thust would be less expensive. However if you had a broken bone, a bullet or a stab wound, cancer or  anything larger than putting a plaster on, it would cost a lot of money.

At the mage floor Orsino was head of the floor, a skilled M.D. Anders, Karl and Rachel were the three that worked in emergency medicine residency. Elaine was a pediatric, Clara a neurosurgeon then there was one tranquil, Victor who worked as a pathologist. 

Tranquility was supposedly forbidden these days, templars were not allowed to preform the act nor was anyone else. If a mage was in danger of possession in Kirkwall, he or she would be taken to the Gallows, a mental ward where the walls themselves were branded in strange runes on the inside making it impossible to connect to the fade. There they would be given therapy and psychological evaluations until they were deemed no longer a threat. 

If a mage committed a crime they were taken to a mage prison like anyone else. Every prison had a mage ward where they had templars and warded walls so no magic could occur. Of course, there was plenty of mages in Kirkwall, mages that were jumped in the dark alleys by masked men, branded with lyrium and left until someone found them. The police never found any clues and the templars very efficiently shushed down the incidents with the help of the chantry.  

Since the floor Anders worked on was the mage healer floor there was also five templars that constantly walked the halls, Black military pants with the chantry sunburst logo on the bottom of their pants, military boots and black jackets with the templar orders flaming sword over their backs. They were equipped with guns, batons, handcuffs infused with little runes to keep magic at bay, a radio. 

The templars of course was only there for the protection of the mages according to the chantry and the order, to keep the mages safe from mage hating people who came in with weapons. Meredith, the knight commander of the order had claimed in a press release _"The mages inside health care are our most valued doctors and we would never let anything bad happen to them, the templars who wander the halls of plan three are there to maintain the safety for those who aid those without hope."_  Utter fucking bullshit.

Meredith didn't trust the mages for a second and the templars were there to guard the mages to make sure they didn't use blood magic on their patients. She, behind closed doors of course, wanted all mages locked up in the gallows. The only reason that didn't happen was because people called it oppression and the mages pulled in a brilliant amount of money for the hospital and when it came to the core of things, money was what was important to both chantry and the templar order. 

Too often did he have mothers and fathers come in with a sick child or a child that needed stitches, too often did he say to his patients that they should come for a checkup, far too often did they break down in tears because they could barely afford to come this time. That always broke Anders heart, making him wish that he could have helped them before they stepped into the hospital. 

What he could do was give them the address to the Darktown clinic and the hours and days he worked there. The clinic was run by a man named Justice. Kristoff Justice, he held the clinic open for anyone who wanted and needed medical treatment. If you had no money, he would take them in for free but mostly people wanted to pay  **something** so the clinic could hold open.  **  
**

Whenever Anders would tell them about the clinic they would nearly burst back into tears, he usually got hugs and thank yous. Anders loved those times, when he could help and see the hope, a light in the end of a dark tunnel for people who had almost less than nothing when he told them to come to the clinics on Wednesdays, Saturdays and the mornings of Sundays to ask for Anders and he would do the check up there."

Most days Anders sneaked his cards into the magazines that laid out in the waiting room or left a couple of them on the tables by the couches on his breaks before he returned to work, sometimes people would find them before being checked up on and they would have time to go there before seeing an expensive doctor here. 

Anders knew that both the chantry and templars were suspicious of how many patients never had a follow up when Anders treated them. Anders pointed out that he was there to fix people and he did it well, there was no reason for followups in his case if they ever asked.  He knew he would one day get in deep trouble for what he was doing but he couldn't stop, he wanted to help people, not take their money, do a simple spell and send them back home and let them heal. 

When Anders was working in the Clinic he did it for free on his spare time. Justice constantly told him he should get pay for his work but Anders kept telling him to use the money to the patients, he anyway already donated most of his money to the clinic and refugee organizations, that the hospital payed him, as any other working hospital, a small fortune, there was no way Anders could ever spend so much money. Of course, Anders did sometimes donate away a bit too much, some months he barely had enough money left for proper food.

Justice had also tried to talk Anders into working full time in the clinic instead of the hospital because one of these days he would get in trouble with Meredith and they would find him wandering around Darktown branded tranquil. That was what happened when you got into trouble with the templar order and you were a mage, unofficially of course.

In other places, like Ferelden the rite of tranquility was never done, if anyone was made tranquil the Fereldan police went to the bottom on who did it and that person or persons spent their remaining life in jail. The mage made tranquil was given therapy, in time they had found that the emotions could be jogged back, but never the magic, it would be forever lost.

Those laws had turned valid when the new king had taken the throne with his wife, the hero of Ferelden, who had saved the world from the last blight. Anders often cursed himself for having left Ferelden, but then he would remember how much the people needed him in Kirkwall, there was just so many refugees, so many poor, he needed to help them in anyway he could.

Anders shook his head to get his attention back to the chart in his hand before calling in the next patient. The richest families were usually the ones seeking mage help and was always the ones who wanted templars to be close at hand when the mages worked their magic to heal them. Anders always found it harder to work when the templars was in the room but he had not much choice in the matter, unfortunately both templars and patients had the right to have templars in the room when magic was preformed.

Eight hours later, after he had left his work in the hospital Anders found himself doing an extra hour down at the Darktown clinic, one hour turned to three hours along with the chugging down a vial of a lyrium potion so his magic had a chance to keep up in the healing work. 

Justice finally stopped him from working when his hands were shaking and it looked as if Anders might fall over of exhaustion. Justice told him to go home, get some food and some sleep. Since Anders never accepted money for the work at the clinic Justice put a McDonald's bag in his hand before he left to make sure he would actually eat something.

As Anders walked home he saw one of the mothers that often came to the clinic with her children that he knew had no money and he gave her the bag of food so she could give it to her children along with the thirty bucks he happened to have on him. He had insta noodles at home that he could make so he would be fine, it was better that her and her family got dinner for the night too. The woman blessed him for his kindness and Anders knew there would be a new shirt from her when he saw next time at the clinic, she was a seamstress and she always wanted to pay back, one Christmas she had even sent him a warm cozy knitted shirt with a cat on with matching socks and Anders treasured it. 

The apartment building that Anders lived in was with a very generous and kind word Shabby. The building had seen it's better days about sixty years ago and was now barely habitable. The entry code to the main door no longer had visible numbers to dial in to open the door. The Elevator was always broken, if it had ever worked at all. The walls in the stairwell were filled to the brim with graffiti and other things Anders didn't want to know what it was, it smelled of piss and beer in the bottom two floor, not to talk about the basement floor. 

Luckily Anders lived on the fourth floor in a one roomer, the entire apartment was his his bedroom/living room, a tiny kitchen and a tiny bathroom, then nothing more. It was all sparsely decorated, a pull-out sofa  serving as a couch and bed, an old thick TV that sometimes didn't want to show anything in colors, the table was a second hand furniture that had cost him next to nothing and a carpet that had seen better days. 

The kitchen only had what had stood there when he moved in, fridge and freezer in one, benches, a stove and a tiny rickety table with one chair. The same story with the bathroom, the only thing new in the bathroom was his glass, toothbrush and toothpaste. The only thing that seemed new were the cat things, the cat tree, the bowls for cat food, the litter-box, all of those things were brand new because the only one Anders put money on at home was his cat, sir-pounce-a-lot.

Even if it looked like nothing to the world, even if the walls needed repainting, the floor needed a new linoleum carpet and the roof new paint, every time he stepped in through the door he felt proud and happy. This small little miserable apartment was his, he payed for it with his money and he could decorate it however he wanted. That was a big difference from the mage circles and the schools where you lived in shared dorms. 

As he unlocked the door and walked in, and he simply couldn't stop he did what he always did, called on his cat. "Sir-pounce, I'm home." A quick tapping and padding of little paws and claws announced the orange tabby that came out from the kitchen with a conversational meow. 

Anders  knew sir-pounce-a-lot just wanted his food, it was how it always was, he would come home and pounce would come out from the kitchen, if Anders tried to do anything else than to feed his cat the cat would sit and meow loudly at him until he got his ass into the kitchen to get him food. "You are such a slave driver you know, I bet you are from Tevinter." He teased his cat as he sat down to scratch him. 

Anders liked to pretend that pouncy actually missed him when he was gone and that he always came to greet him by the door was because the cat was greeting him and not just wanted food. He cooed at his cat, told him he was such a good boy who hadn't broken anything all day and saying hello to Anders. The cat conversationally meowed back or purred and stroke to his hands and legs.

Anders walked to the pantry and looked inside there was a package of crackers, five insta noodle packages, a shelf filled of different luxurious cat food cans and a carrot. He clearly needed to go grocery shopping when he got his pay from the hospital.

"What do you want today pouncy? Will it be delicious tuna? Smoked chicken of yummy beef?" He asked and picked out the cans looking at them. Sir-pounce-a-lot meowed as he looked up at Anders and Anders picked the tuna one for this time. he put the other two cans back on the shelf then grabbed the bowls from the floor. He easily cleaned them both out before scooping out food in one of them and water in the other.

He didn't even have time to put them back down on the floor as the cat just easily climbed up his leg and him then jumped to the bench to happily eat his food. Anders proceeded with stroking the feline's soft fur for a while listening to the happy, content sound of purring from the cat before he made himself his noodle dinner. He spiced it up by eating the peeled carrot raw on the side. 

Anders days were pretty much the same, well he didn't always do those extra clinic hours, today had been a day he didn't feel to tired by the thought of continuing working after work. He had also seen two families in tears and hopelessness because of the price of health care, he just hadn't been able to stay away today. 

On a usual day Anders would wake up by his alarm at eight fifteen, get a glass of yogurt as breakfast, make a lunch sandwich or take a package of ramen. Then he would dash to the buss swap twice before he was close enough to the hospital. Get in through the doors, up to the third floor and be there twelve minutes early, clock in, get changed to his scrubs and drop the sandwich in his locker, sweep the waiting room for refugees, suggest them to go to the clinic very subtle and drop a card to them or just drop a bunch of the clinics business cards an the table or some on the couches before he would begin on his daily patients.

Between every patient they healed with magic they had to take a five minute break where they did nothing at all. Anders always used this time to clean up and get ready for next case. At lunch he would sit in the break room chatting with Elaine who gad lunch at the same time as him, they would chat about different patients they had. 

The day would start to tire him out somewhere in the afternoon with all use of magic then he would take the buss home. Feed sir pounce a lot, have a quick dinner, take a shower -one never knew what temperature his treacherous shower would spit out- then he would fall into bed exhausted, before he knew it it was time for repeat.

On Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays the routine was changed with only the difference that he worked ten to twelve hours instead of eight as he worked them at the clinic and by the time he was back home he always were utterly drained. But he was also always much more happy and content than he was after his shifts at the hospital. 

It was on a Wednesday that Anders life would change dramatically. The shift at the clinic had been long and intense. He had taken on many more patients than he probably should and just as he had been about to go home a stabbed Tal-Vashoth had staggered in begging for help, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Since Anders was the only mage, he had stayed because it looked bad. 

He had chugged a bottle of lyrium to even have the strength to do anything with the injured man. The hospital never took the Tal-Vashoths but the clinic did, the clinic helped anyone who needed it, no questions asked. Anders didn't care about the politics between Qunari, Tal-Vashoth and the viscount, he just cared about that a man was bleeding to death when he could help to save him. 

They put him in a bed and several nurses were running with blood bags and an IV, when Anders had approached to heal him the horned man had hissed at him and cursed him calling him saarebas. Unfortunately magical healing would be required since most of the ordinary surgeons was home by now and the horned man was bleeding profoundly. Not to talk about that do surgery would be painful and dangerous since they couldn't administer painkilling medicines on Qunari, they were simply too large for anything they gave to work.

It took Justice some loud shouting and Anders promising not to posses or be possessed by anything before the huge horned man finally agreed. About another hour later Anders had finished to heal the stubborn beast man. Anders was tired, both magically and physically drained when he said good night to Justice. Justice offered him a ride home but Anders insisted that a walk would be good for his head as he walked out of the clinic... Anders the fool. 

The cool night air around him was good for him, his head cleared out some but he was still very drained, making a spell right now would be impossible. The chill in the air made him pull his military green jacket with fuzzy inside better around him. Maker, fall was really on them, there would be so many bones broken, people who slips on slippery leaves and so many cases of the flue the coming months.

Darktown always felt unsafe at night so he wasn't very surprised when he felt that bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as he walked towards his home, he just dismissed it as Darktown. His home was just a twenty minutes walk from the clinic, fifteen from where he was now, so what could possibly happen. He tried to rationalize to himself.

But it was true what they said, if you feel danger, run and never look back. Anders wished he would have the sensibility of running because running would have been the smart thing to do. If he had ran back to the clinic, asked Justice to drive him home, maybe things would have turned out differently. 

A black van pulled up on the sidewalk where he was currently walking, blocking the path so he couldn't pass. Anders felt his stomach clench and turn to ice as he turned around to run back but a men dressed in dark clothes blocked his way grabbing his arms hard while twisting him back around and pressed him to the ground. 

Anders was about to explode what little magic he had left in him when a collar was snapped around his neck suffocating him. Well, confusion hit because he could breath, perfectly fine even, yet it he felt like was drowning in a void of... something, something was missing for him. It took a while for him to realize he was missing the fade, it was gone, he had nothing to reach out for to boost his mana. 

Anders gasped as he struggled on his knees on the ground with his arms pinned behind his back, he was desperately trying to pull his arms free to reach the collar to get it off his neck so he could find the fade again, so he could actually fight back. But strong hands was holding him secured to his knees on the ground. Anders couldn't see their faces, they were all wearing black masks.

He tried to scream loudly, someone, anyone please call someone to get him away from this. When a white glowing piece of lyrium was presented for his eyes he stopped screaming of pure shock as his eyes widened in fear. They were going to brand him, he was going to be a tranquil. He began begging , begging while pressing backwards to whoever it was that held him, begging for them not to do this, he needed his magic to help people.

When they just laughed at him the only thing he could feel was fear, his stomach was ice clenched knots and his heart was beating a thousand beats per minute. No matter how hard he struggled he couldn't get away from who was holding him steady, it was over, his life was over, he would become a tool for the chantry and the templars like Victor was one. 

He shut his eyes tightly, he didn't want to see it when the world vanished for him, maybe if he shut his eyes hard enough he wouldn't feel it either... then suddenly a loud zap rung through the air, the sound of a sudden crackling electricity, a loud scream of pain the pling from the lyrium dropping to the ground then a WOOOSH and heat of fire in front of him.

He opened his eyes widely to find the source of the new sounds and the new head and found himself face to face with an impressive wall of fire. The one who had been holding him let him go and Anders flopped back on his ass staring at the fire dumbly as if he were trying to get where it came from.

"Haha! I can do this all day!" A northern accented voice said from somewhere to his left.

"Good! Keep it up Dorian!" A distinct Ferelden accent  voice gladly called back.

Anders turned his attention towards the voices of his assumed saviors but instead saw the man that had held him pull a gun. Anders did the firs that came to mind and grabbed his legs trying to pull. It didn't get him to fall but the bullet sent for the man in black fancy robes hit a wall instead, Anders crawled back quickly when the gun was aimed at him but a large bearlike man barreled himself over the gunman and threw him them both to the ground.

Fire was being sent out from the staff of the black robed man to the men that was behind the wall of flames then he glanced to his partner and called out to him again. 

"Hawke! Amatus dear! Get off him you have him in good place!" 

"I'm off! On three! Onetwothree!"

The bear man rolled away as he spoke, grabbed his staff and two glyphs went off one electricity and one fire on the man on the ground. The man presumably named Hawke quickly dragged Anders up to his feet while backing away from the fire while holding his staff in the other hand. Anders felt utterly helpless without his own magic. 

The wall of fire faded down and the man with an accent strode over to Hawke's other side. The people who had attacked Anders grabbed their fallen comrade and dragged him into the van before they drove off in a hurry.

Anders turned to look at his rescuers only to find one of them, the one with an accent and strange robes standing just by his side working some spell over the collar. He was tall with dark silky hair, a mustache to be impressed by, stormy eyes and fancy Tevinter robes. How Tevinter still had robes and looked like if they belonged to a fancy fantasy movie but still managed to be a powerful empire Anders never knew.

The bear man named Hawke had brown messy hair, a wild beard, a huge grin on his face and bright brown eyes, he was dressed in jeans, t-shirt and a leather jacket. Anders would never have guessed that he was a mage, usually mages weren't so... fit.

"Aren't you lucky we came by!" He said gladly "I told you Dorian it was a good way." The man sounded far too happy for just having been in a big fight.

"You got us lost amatus and didn't want to consult your phone for directions for it might wound your pride, I will have the stench of piss and the swill you call beer on me for weeks!" The man called Dorian complained audibly. 

"Thank you for... saving me." Anders croaked out a bit weaker than he had planned.

"Do you know who sent them?" The bear man asked "I'm Hawke by the way, Garret Hawke, that's Dorian."

"Dorian of house Pavus, recently Qarinus, how do you do." 

"I'm Anders... and I don't know who sent them or who they were."

Anders tilted his head when Dorian nudged his cheek to get a better view of what was stuck to his neck. He was curious of the two men but his head was also spinning from what had nearly just happened, was this the hospital? Meredith? Had they gone that far just because he worked in a clinic too? Or was it the Qunari who in an hour had found out how he healed a Tal-Vashoth?

"Kaffas, who made this thing? It is like if they have used the Qunari techniques and fused it with Tevinter knowledge."

"Can you get it of?" Anders asked with just a hint of panic, what if he had to live with that forever? He wouldn't be able to do his work, and he lived for his work.

"Of course I can." A snap, a click and Dorian pulled it off. "See! I am quite amazing, Hawke put this in your bag, I want to look at it later."

Hawke put it down in his satchel and nodded then smiled at Anders who was currently rubbing his neck enjoying how the fade was flowing back into his minds and his body. Oh how he had missed it even if it was for just a short time. He shuddered to think of what it had been like had he lost it forever.

"How far away are we from your home?"

"I live about fifteen minutes away from." Anders said and closed his eyes, all the bright colors and sounds of the fade was returning blissfully to his head and he needed a moment to adjust to the pleasant change. 

"Ah good! Lead the way, we are making sure you will be safely there and not attacked by anymore people." Hawke said beaming. 

Anders should have told them not to bother, they had just saved his life and he didn't want to be a bother. They could also be serial killers who want to kill him when they got back home to safety, but then they could just as well have waited until he was a tranquil and been done with it without him even bothered to resist. He also felt rather out of it so he accepted the offer.

Fifteen minutes passed quickly while he listened to both Hawke and Dorian chatter about why they were in Darktown. Apparently they hadn't even planned on being there but a series of wrong turns had ended them up there. Dorian informed it was due to that Hawke was so stubborn that they hadn't used the GPS on the phones. Hawke protested that vividly and said he could find if he was just given some time.

Anders found out that Hawke was from Ferelden, he had escaped from Lothering when the blight and darkspawn had invaded, he had lived in Kirkwall for a year, made a name for himself as a mercenary. Dorian had come here from Qarinus just four months ago due to family troubles, he had stayed with Hawke who had so kindly offered him a place to stay until he was ready to move on, one thing had lead to another. 

Anders briefly told them that he was a doctor, that he also was a warden and that he had worked with the warden commander  for a time but that he had moved to Kirkwall because people needed him here. That he liked to help people and that he worked for free at the Darktown clinic on his days off. 

As they walked into the shabby building that housed his apartment Dorian had looked around himself in disbelief as they walked into the building and mumbled something about not being able to call it a house at all but more of a shack. Hawke had chuckled and nudged Dorian and told him to behave. Anders was still trying to figure out what relationship the two of them had, on one hand they seemed very much to be a couple, on the other they were so different from each other that Anders didn't understand how they at all were friends and he wasn't sure if they were boyfriends or just fucking.

"Well this is me..." he said and nodded to the door, I would invite you in for anything to eat or drink but I think I only have... water.." he admitted "and maybe some crackers." He said awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. He really wished he had something to offer them, huh that was a first one.

"Don't worry about us, we should be heading home anyway. But, tell you what, keep my number, if something happens again don't hesitate to call me." Hawke said and handed Anders a card with his number. "There is always someone picking up on that number, if not me it's Dorian so, just, give it a beep if you feel uncomfortable walking home or something, one of us can drive you."

Dorian chuckled lightly and nodded to show it was true, someone ALWAYS picked up on Hawke's phone. "Well Thank you then, I... thank you, really." Anders said and smiled looking at the card. 

"Yeah I will tell Aveline what happened, she's a cop, you won't mind will you?" Hawke asked and Anders shook his head. 

"No, as long as she don't show up to my work I'll be good." He said and smiled slightly. "The hospital is just looking for an excuse to see me unfit for work." Anders sighed deeply shaking his head. 

"She probably  will just call is she need to ask you something." Hawke assured with a smile. 

"Ah.. then, by all means." Anders said and nodded.

Dorian gave up a laugh "There's a good man." he said playfully and Hawke snorted. 

"Well, call, if you need anything." Hawke said and smiled "Come on Dorian, I think I can actually find from here." 

The two walked back the stairs and Anders smiled looking after them before he walked into his apartment and sighed with the smile glued to his face. Even if he had almost been made tranquil, two men had just saved him and promised he could call if he felt unsafe... If he played his cards right, he might even be able to make friends out of these people some day, if he was very lucky. 

"How about it huh pounce? I think I can make friends with actual people, not just Justice." he said as he picked sir-pounce-a-lot up "Let's see if someone is surprised to see me at work tomorrow..." He said and sighed before he went on with his evening routines.


	2. Chapter two: Moving in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anders get's drugged and is again saved by Hawke.

When Anders got to work the very next day it was strange to see how it was completely the same. He clocked in, changed his clothes, said a good morning to the receptionist, carefully sneak out the cards to the clinic, greet his fellow mage healers and go to work on patients. No one seemed surprised to see him which made Anders hesitate, maybe it was the Qunari that had sent people after him? It wouldn't be so strange now would it.

Anders went to the little break room by lunchtime to grab his sandwich that was waiting for him in the fridge. It had laid there since Tuesday as Clara had been an angel and bought him a burger from the cafeteria instead of the sandwich. So now he had that to eat, which was lucky because he had forgotten lunch today when he had nearly overslept.

Sleep hadn't exactly found him quickly after he had went to bed last night, only when he relaxed in the bed with sir-pounce had the realization of how close it had been hit him. He had curled up to a ball and cried half the night away, sleep had been full of nightmares that had constantly woken him up. So here he was, by lunch, having taken two bites of his sandwich before dropping his head heavily to the table with closed eyes, maybe he could just have a quick nap. 

"Are you okay Anders? I brought some coffee." Elaine's voice split the silence of the room. He had been annoyed with her for interrupting his almost nap if it hadn't been for the heavenly message of coffee.

"Ugh, Elaine you're quite possibly my guardian  angel." He said and peeked up on her from under some blond hair that had fallen out of the tie and down in his face.

She laughed lightly at him as she put down the cup in front of him. Fancy Starbucks even, Anders so owed her one. He tied his hair back up properly and took a sip of the coffee then a bite of his sandwich. The sandwich didn't taste very good after two days of neglect but the coffee easily washed away the bad taste and the sandwich worked fine as lunch.

"How was your day off?" Elaine asked, just as she always did on Thursdays.

"Oh you know, the usual hard work." Anders said and smiled slightly at her. "Oh and I was attacked and nearly made tranquil, I suppose my day could have been more relaxed." He said and yawned big, not because his own story bored him but because he was still very tired.

Elaine gasped loudly, quickly covered her mouth with a hand as she was staring at him with frightened wide eyes. Anders quietly stroke her off the list of suspects that might known something. Karl was already taken from that list, they had dated once, or more... had sex a couple of times but Karl was a good man. When Anders had wanted more, wanted them to be something, Karl had backed away. Karl was some years older and he said he didn't want Anders youth to be wasted on an older man. Anders had been a bit hurt and disappointed but he had accepted it and they were good work friends. He had understood it had been better that Karl had broken it up before it had been too serious.

He shook his head slightly and took another bite of his sandwich as he realized that Elaine was scolding him for being so utterly reckless. She scolded him for putting himself in unnecessary risk by working at that clinic, by handing out those cards, to almost never have a revisit from any of his patients even if he was supposed to have plenty of those.

Anders could have given a lot of arguments against her, oh he had a lake of thoughts and ideas, why he thought the hospital, the templar order and the chantry was wrong but this wasn't the place, this wasn't the woman who needed to hear them. She was only nagging him about this because she cared, because she was frightened that he would end up hurt. 

It was touching, Anders always found it touching when she showed that she cared for him, when anyone showed that they cared for him... He had a hard time not to pull them close and hold them in his heart if they showed that they cared. Some days Elaine was the port in his stormy sea, he wasn't sure he could keep doing what he did without her, without her showing that she cared about him.

"Just... Anders, please be safe? Isn't it enough that you work here to help people? Do you really have to put yourself in danger just so you can work on that clinic?"

"You know they need the help... there is no mage doctors there and to be honest, they cant afford chantry care." 

"But that is not your problem Anders. You need to stay safe mages are already targeted. You are just lucky the carta or the coterie haven't taken interest in you yet, or maybe they did that last night!" She said upset to him, it was clear that she was scared and concerned.

"I know... I know, I just cant let people suffer when I can help." Anders sighed deeply.

Elaine nodded and reached over to take his hand with hers and gave a little squeeze. She gave up the tiniest of smiles to him to show their friendship was still strong. Anders smile back at her, he know she meant well and would never be angry at her for caring. 

"Just , drink your stupid coffee so you don't fall asleep then go home to actually get some sleep, it will be good for you. No clinic tonight okay?" She said and nudged his hand like if they'd be siblings. Anders grinned at her, he could promise no clinic today, he was too tired.

"Fine, I was anyway planning to go to bed early tonight, and laze around by my TV."

Elaine was content with that answer and they both headed back to work. The coffee helped to some extent to at least keep him from falling asleep after every patient. Somewhere between lunch and quitting he quickly went down to the cafeteria and bought himself orange juice for the extra energy.

However when he swapped out of his scrubs to his usual jeans and t-shirt and the comfortable green jacket he was more tired than ever, too tired, he had energy crashed. "Damn you coffee for making me realize just how tired I am." He muttered to himself as he walked out through the hospital doors towards the buss.

On the buss he fell asleep twice. He had honestly plan on going home, then he heard a coughing child, knowing it was more than just a cold, her mother trying to coo her back to sleep in the stroller. Anders walked over to the woman's side on the buss and told her about the clinic, that he was a doctor there and that he could take her if she wanted since he was going there to work right now. 

After helping that woman Anders had a crawling feeling that something was wrong, he was starting to be dizzy, more than once had he stood up and almost lost balance. Telling himself it was simply from the lack of sleep and proper food he took two patients more. By the time he sent out the second patient Anders knew something was really wrong, this wasn't just normal fatigue, this was something more. His head was spinning and he barely could see straight anymore.

He needed help, maybe he could walk to the door, call for a nurse. Maker he was dying wasn't he? Somehow he had pushed himself to the limit and was now dying. He tried to stand up to get a nurse, a doctor, Justice, anybody. But when he stood he just fell to a pile on the floor, too weak to get up again. He searched for his phone fighting the dizziness in his head, the fog that was clogging up his brain. He grabbed his phone and typed a message, shaking fingers that probably missing the keys. _'Clnik pkease hwlp'_  Was what he managed to send away, hopefully to Justice.

The phone made the whooping sound telling him that the message had at least been sent. That was when his mind couldn't fight anymore, the fog slowly rolled in, pushing his world into a pleasant darkness. If this was the way he would go, it wasn't at all unpleasant.

***

When he woke back up again he was in a bed, he thought, he didn't have the energy to open his eyes to check. Okay, maybe he did, maybe he just felt for being lazy a little while longer, his phone hadn't gone off yet so he wasn't late. He sighed and shifted slightly only to groan when something tugged in his arm. Was it sir-pounce who was stabbing him with his claws?

Then he remembered, the dizziness, thinking he was dying, trying to get someone to notice and passing out. He groaned loudly and rubbed his eyes with his fingers, allowing just a small amount of magic to his head to clear out the remaining fog invading his brain, trying to find the spot where he felt like he was going to barf.

"That's a good man! Time to wake up." It was that cheery Tevinter accent again, some time between Anders' fall and now Dorian must have popped by... wait he had texted Hawke? He thought it had been justice that he had texted... now he felt stupid too, he had dragged Hawke out here when he was surrounded by people.

"Ugh what happened?" He asked trying to force away the blush.

"You scared us to hell, that's what happened." Hawke said with a concerned voice. "How do you feel?"

Anders finally opened his eyes and blinked looking around in the room, he knew it was the clinic because sometimes he did rounds in these rooms, and really, no one on the clinic would take him from the clinic to the hospital, that was just dumb.

"Like my head took a hard hit by a golf club." Anders suggested.

"It might as well have done so Anders, you have a concussion, what I want to know is what you have eaten and drank today because you were on top of that fall drugged." Justice said with concern in his voice but anger in his eyes. Anger not aimed at Anders but at the one who had drugged him.

"Water, yogurt... uhm, my sandwich from Tuesday, a coffee from Starbucks, a gum and.. some juice from the hospital cafeteria." 

"When were you going to tell me you had been attacked and nearly made tranquil?" Justice said hard "It is Meredith, I know it, that infernal woman! Anders the hospital is not safe, and why did I have to hear this from messere Hawke?" 

"Ugh... Justice please, I was going to tell you on Saturday, I wasn't even going to go here today... And it could have been the Qunari, they don't like when Tal-Vashoth are being treated, especially not by mages." Anders said while yawning big, not out of boredom, he was just really ready to go to bed. Well, he was in a bed, he really wanted to be in  **his** bed.

"Well, chief inspector Aveline is on her way here now to question you about it all, then me and Dorian will make sure you get home safely." Hawke said and smiled.

Anders noticed the way Justices looked at Hawke with interest and silently reading the other man. He always did that with new people, especially new people who openly just helped people without ask of reward. When Hawke seemingly passed the test Justice thanked him for taking care of Anders for him, and how fast they had responded to the ask for help.

Not long after that a redheaded walked into the room. She questioned him about what had happened and Anders pretty much just told her about his day, what had happened, what he had done, what he had eaten. She wrote things down in a little notebook then Anders told her about yesterdays incident and the van, he didn't remember the licence plate or had seen anyone's face but she still wrote down things on her little pad. 

Hawke and Dorian added their versions to it and seemed willing to be written down as witnesses would it be needed for later investigation since they had seen it all. When Aveline had what she needed and Anders was cleared by Justice to go back home after a quick examination, Hawke said he'd drive him home, no arguments accepted. Not that Anders did, he was too tired and just wanted to get home, feed pouncy and go to bed.

***  

"Thank you for bringing me back home." Anders said as he slid out of the car where Hawke had parked it outside his building. "You don't have to come up with me, really. And I'm sorry for ruining your evening." He said awkwardly and pulled some stray strands of hair out of his face, propping them behind his ear.

"Nonsense, we are coming with you up. I want to see your cat." Dorian dismissed waving his hand as he popped out of the car gracefully.

"And you saved us from Isabella's crude horrible teasing spree." Hawke added and snorted. 

"Ugh that woman is awful, I wish she would wear more clothes, being around her has forced me to see more of the female body than I ever wanted." Dorian said disgusted and Hawke chuckled. 

Anders was content with just listening to them as they walked up the stairs together. He gathered quickly that Dorian was entirely gay, he had never as much as glanced towards a woman. Hawke was bisexual but preferred men, but that could possibly be because of Dorian Anders thought to himself. The two lived in a smaller mansion up in Hightown and had four roommates, Varric, Isabella, Merrill and Fenris. 

The chatting stopped when Anders stopped staring as they reached his floor. Where his door was supposed to be was just a gaping hole were his door had been smashed off it's hinges. Any clothes he had hanging by the door were torn and scattered all over the floor. Anders stomach froze over, his hands clenched hard. He didn't care that his stuff was broken but... what were the odds for sir-ponce...

"Pouncy!" He shouted without caution as he busted in through the broken door. What if he would find the place bloody by cat blood... luckily he didn't, though everything he owned was wrecked, smashed or torn into pieces, his clothes were scattered around the floor along with papers from his torn apart books and feathers from pillows and his blanket. The TV screen was smashed with something heavy, the laptop was snapped on half, even his couch and coffee table was broken. 

A quick glance into the kitchen showed his fridge flipped over missing a door, the pantry continence scattered over the floor and the table and chairs smashed. Whoever did this must have been strong enough to snap Anders at the middle too... Anders shivered by the unpleasant picture and had to put his brain back to finding his cat.

"Pounce-a-lot!" He called again as he began to feverishly dig around the debris. Dorian and Hawke was just behind him, Hawke already calling what Anders assumed was Aveline. 

"Shh, do you hear that?" Dorian mumbled and grabbed his staff moving towards the bathroom door. Anders wished he would have had his staff but it was broken by his couch since he never brought it to work it pulled too much attention when he was outside.

Dorian slowly moved to the door holding staff ready in one hand and the door handle in the other. Hawke did the same but instead of the door he was holding the phone pressed to his ear. Anders stood tense staring at the door ready for an attack, he might not have his staff and he might be beyond exhausted but he still collected some of that old grey warden stamina, squeezed out the fade for some more mana ready to make a large boom at least.

Dorian pulled open the door violently as he jumped back ready to use his staff. A movement of orange flurry sped over the floor, before anyone could react the orange charged and pounced Anders diving into his jacket. Anders quickly wrapped his arm around the bundle of orange tabby as relief spread and his chest lightened while he held the cat close. "Thank the maker, pouncy." He breathed out. Both Hawke and Doriand visibly relaxed and Anders took a deep breath. 

"So... someone has a questionable taste in fashion." Dorian said and pulled a hand through his hair with a little laugh to calm his nerves. Hawke began speaking on the phone, asking Aveline to bring a team of techs to come to Anders apartment because there had been a break in. Anders just sank down on what was left of his couch while stroking the orange head that poked out from under his jacket. 

"I just want to help people..." he mumbled exhaustedly. "What if I had been home..."

"I think that was the meaning, they drugged you so you would be tired, this is not some random bust." Dorian pointed out. 

"You think they are trying to get me?" Anders laughed humorlessly.

"It is all so very Tevinter, I feel homesick." Dorian hummed smiling. "I would have asked what magister you pissed off to play such cocky games with you." He said with a little chuckle. Anders quietly wondered why Dorian was in the south, maybe one day he'd know. 

"That was Aveline, a team is on it's way, and you need a body guard. Luckily for you I know just the guy, oh and you are coming with us so... well, I would say pack your stuff but..." Hawke looked around at the mess. Not even the cat toys had been left alone. 

Anders laughed stood up tiredly and walked into the kitchen. He sat on a knee by a bench as he bent open a board underneath the bench and pulled out his external memory disk and some reserve cash. That was all he owned now... maker his life had just hit rock bottom. Usually he would have argued about following them home to use their couch but now he really had no other place to go unless he wanted to sleep in justice's office at the clinic.

"I don't need a body guard, really, I'll just not drink the juice from the cafeteria again." He said and sighed. "And... find a better apartment that won't be vandalized like this." Maybe he should live with a secret address too, not let so many people know where he could be found.

"Anders, they have put a personal target on you, you need protection. No argumens." 

Anders sighed then just nodded and looked around, everything belonging to him and pounce was broken. There was no way anyone could see this than less than an 'We want you dead and we will kill you given the chance'. After a brief chat with Aveline, the three men left.

***

Apparently, Hawke and Dorian lived in the fancy part of Hightown. What they called small mansion could be called large estate according to Anders when he laid his eyes on it as Hawke rolled in on the driveway. Anders didn't even dare to try to find out what time it was. Waking up after the collapsing had already been late, now it must be at least two in the morning. He couldn't check because his phone was dead and well, the charger had been cut into pieces.

As they walked out of the car to the house Anders saw a smaller lawn in the front of the house, large rose bushes on the sides of the graveled path up to the main entrance and the house itself looked like it had stood there for many many years but didn't look to be in a bad shape. The insides was of course pitch black since it was in the middle of the night and they stumbled around in the entrance for a while until Dorian found the light switch with a triumphing "AHA!" 

When they could see again Anders saw that most of the insides were also very old, not charmingly old, but more like 'don't put too heavy things on that or it will break' old. But it was all clearly several step ups from Anders shabby apartment building. 

"It's the old Amell mansion, long story really we just Recently moved back in here and I know everything is a mess, and honest Varric owns the place on paper, we all live here as roommates to afford upkeep but we have a thing, that might pull in money and then we'll renovate." Hawke explained without Anders asking. "Hey you said you were a warden didn't you? You don't happen to have any good maps over deep road entrances?" 

"Well I don't, but I know someone who might, I can email her if I can borrow a charger." He said and looked at Hawke.

Dorian chuckled lightly shaking his head "It can wait til tomorrow, now I will take a bath and let you two do the tour alone." He said and smiled then walked up the old stairs but stopped half way "Hawke, I expect you to shower before you join me in bed understood?"

Hawke grinned up at Dorian and just blew him a kiss. Dorian in turn sighed muttering something about blasted doglords and their scruffy good looks. Hawke in return just shook his head with a laugh before he began to show him around in the house.

There was a large living room with a fireplace and new comfortable couches, a large kitchen that was in need of an upgrade but fully functional, on this floor there was two inhabited bedrooms, one belonged to Isabella the other to Merrill, upstairs Hawke had a room, Dorian had one and Varric had one. Anders was given the choice on having a room on the second floor, main floor or the basement floor.

Anders said he didn't mind where and that he promised would save up to an apartment on his own as soon as he could. Hawke just brushed him off and said he didn't mind another roommate as long as Anders wanted to stay. Anders said he wouldn't mind the basement since he hoped that would be the best place not to be a bother. Hawke nodded gladly before he showed the way to a door and a staircase, on the bottom there was a hallway. 

"So, forwards over there is the laundry room, have at it as you want, you can borrow some clothes from me before you have bought a new set, that door to the left goes to the garage, that one goes to a gym, well it will be a gym some day... This door is Fenris's and that one on the opposite will be yours." Hawke said and opened the door to the empty room. 

There was an old bed, a desk and some bookshelves and if Anders was to be honest, he fell in love with the room at once. It even had a small bathroom with a shower and a toilet. He carefully let sir-pounce-a-lot down on the floor. The cat walked around then claimed a spot on the bed purring as he spread out comfortably. 

"Uhm, Pounce won't be a problem right?" Anders asked a bit nervous. 

"Oh of course not, Dorian has a cat too, Somniari I think he call her, I can never wrap my head around those odd Tevene words he use, she's one of those mustache cats." He said and chuckled. "I also have a Mabari, his name is Nug, don't worry he grew up with cat's so he's a nice boy." Hawke promised. "Oh and Merrill actually has a Nug, he's named Mr Muppet." 

"As long as Sir-pounce-a-lot is not eaten I will be fine." Anders said and chuckled lightly.

"Well then! You'll have to meet with Fenris tomorrow, he's working some mercenary job tonight so he's not home. Do you have work tomorrow or can you call in a sick day? Just so Fenris can start to follow you around?" 

"I suppose I can take a sick-day, or a vacation day yes..."

"Well then! Breakfast is usually somewhere around eight to ten but if you wake up before or after just feel like home in the kitchen. Isabella and Fenris mostly eat irregular hours anyway, so nothing unusual." Hawke said and chuckled walking over to the small walk in closet and pulled out some clean bed sheets that he handed to Anders. "Is there anything else... hmm... No, I think that's it, Isabella will be the human with least clothes, Merrill, the sweet elf, Varric the dwarf and Fenris is.. well how did  Varric put him... Angsty porcupine elf. You've already met me and Dorian." 

"Thank you Hawke.. you barely know me and..." 

"Well this is how you make friends." Hawke said and smiled with a nod. "Get some sleep and I'll show you the outside tomorrow and you can meet with everyone." 

"Thank you anyway. Good night Hawke." 

"Good night Anders!"

Hawke left and Anders quickly made his bed, made sure the door was locked out of habit of living in Darktown then went to bed. As he patted sir-pounce-a-lot and felt the soothing cloak of the fade wrap around him he wondered how he had gotten as lucky as to meet someone like Hawke. Someone who just after two days let him stay at his place... utterly insane and it heated Anders heart, he was touched by the kindness. 

He found sleep smiling that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter Anders will meet with Fenris!


	3. chapter three: Breakfast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anders meets with his new roommates and Merrill makes them all breakfast.

Hawke had returned twice as Anders had half dosed off on the bed in his new room, once with clothes for him to borrow and the second time with a charger to his phone. Luckily Hawke was also a fan of Samsung so Anders had the same chargers. As the phone had turned back alive he had a message and a missed call from Justice waiting. He immediately called him back to tell him all was fine, that he was in a room in Hawke's Hightown estate. Justice approved, said he had heard a lot of good things about Hawke.

After that Anders had fell back into the soft heaven of a real bed again. He had always put most of his money to the clinic or donations for the less fortunate and the pull-out couch he owned had often been his heaven but this... now he couldn't understand why he hadn't just bought himself a proper bed. The bed made him relax in a way the pull-out couch never had, lulling him gently into the fade, it didn't repel his nightmares from his earlier life of course but it did seem to make them a little less edgy.

Even if mages were free in Thedas didn't mean they started their young mage life free. The moment they realized they had magic they were sent to the circles to study, they didn't get to leave, to meet their families, meet the outside world or friends. They only got to study and learning. The good thing was that they get to pick what they wished to study, Anders had early on choose to learn how to be a doctor, so all mages got a free education, to the cost of their teenage and young adult years.

Of course people would never stand for it if the mages were locked up forever, that would be oppression and racism. So, when the mages were old enough they had to go through their harrowing, if they managed they gained their freedom, well part of it, for a five year period of time they have a personal templar as a 'guardian' that makes sure that the mage does not turn to blood magic and demons. It was a man or woman of the templar order that the mage would have to check in with twice a week, the templar held the mage's economy and all big decisions had to go through said templar. After those five years and the mage was cleared and freedom awaited.

Anders had met his magic first when he was twelve and had set fire to the garage by accident. His father had got the templars there, Anders had been cuffed because he would stop kick and scream that he didn't want to go. He had escaped a couple of times from the circle, six times where the last had ended with him in solitary confinement. After that he had just silently buried himself in his studies, planned on a new escape but first enchanter Irwing had decided he was ready for his Harrowing since he was twenty three. 

Anders had passed it with surprising ease, Irwing had written in a good word for him in a hospital in Ferelden. He had got himself an internship as a mage healer. His templar 'guardian was a vile man, the things Anders had been forced to do just to get his own money... his own life.... He stirred slightly in  his sleep and pushed the sleepy dream thoughts aside. Just two years after his internship had began so did the blight and he was moved to Amaranthine.

In Amaranthine he had met the hero of Ferelden, become a grey warden and thus become free of the blasted templars two years early. The only thing he had left from the circle and templars after that were the pale scars that ran over the pale skin of his back and his nightmares that would likely never fade, but he was a free man, he never truly submitted to the circle, he had never been theirs like other mages, he was proud over that to be honest.

Anders didn't really remember falling asleep, but he obviously must have since sir-pounce-a-lot woke him up by pouncing his chest along with a loud meow. Most likely he wanted food and a good scratch. Anders groaned as he stretched his tall frame out on the comfortable bed before he began scratching the orange tabby behind his ears. The cat purred comfortably on his chest, the vibrations laying just over Anders heart made the mage smile fondly presuming his scratching. 

The room he had been left in had two high windows that he guessed lead out to the backyard of the estate, he didn't actually know because he hadn't checked and there was curtains that weren't see through. They weren't dark either so they didn't work for darkening his room, they rather gave of a very comfortable golden light in the morning sun. Anders realized how long it was since he had a morning off like this, just lazily watching the room glow in the morning sun while his fingers stroke through cat fur. He had forgot how relaxing small things could be.

As he laid there in the room that Hawke had said he could stay in he really could imagine living here with Hawke and Dorian, along with their other roommates. If they were anything like the other two mages Anders would love it there. This room on top of it... just amazing. No more would he go to work exhausted because he couldn't find sleep in the lumpy couch, or fear his door being bust in by robbers or templars ready to brand him tranquil.

What Anders had gathered about Hawke's and Dorian's roommates when he had heard them talk he had figured that the woman named Isabella was a human, an obvious flirt with crude jokes but always meaning well. Merrill was an elven woman who sounded very sweet even if a  bit naive and Varric... well, Anders minds had wandered straight to Varric Tethras but then shook it off, that would be too incredible. Varric seemed to be a man of many contacts, him and Hawke were planning that expedition to the ancient deep roads that Hawke had talked some about. 

The only one that they hadn't told him much about was Fenris, the man that Hawke had volunteered as his body guard. All Hawke had given was that Fenris was an elf that was not a fan of mages. That had easily been explained by one simple statement, he was from Tevinter. Anders had met enough Tevinter elven fugitives to know about the horrors that occurred there behind closed doors. Even Dorian had grown uncharacteristically quiet when Hawke had told Anders that Fenris was from Tevinter since Dorian was an Altus mage from the very same place and Anders didn't doubt that Dorian had had slaves before, someday he'd like to hear more how life for mages was like in Tevinter, he had heard it was very different from here.

He was however rather nervous about the fact that Fenris hated mages since Anders was a mage. Hawke had assured him that as long as he didn't use blood magic or tried to hurt other people he would be fine, after all Hawke was a mage and the two got along fine. Fenris was even, very slowly, warming up to Dorian even if 'warming up' meant that they now traded insults instead of openly fighting. 

Anders took a deep breath where he laid petting sir-pounce before he started to feel ready to get up and meet with the others. "It can't be too bad can it Pouncy? I will just be my charming self and it will be fine." He said to the cat. The cat just lazily looked up at him and gave up a 'meow' for reply. Anders decided to take that as a _'yes Anders all will be fine'_.

He carefully put the tabby on one of the pillows, gave him a last stroke over the fur before he got himself a quick shower. His jeans were still clean enough since he had changed them yesterday when he still owned clothes, so he got into those and a t-shirt borrowed by Hawke with a print of a teacup pig on it with the words 'have it chill' under. He wondered how anyone took that man seriously with shirts like these but he didn't complain, it was clean and Anders didn't exactly own any clothes anymore until he had bought new ones. 

After getting dressed and putting his hair up in the usual hair tie he made his way up for the stairs silently, he knew Fenris was next door and didn't know how soundproof the place was so he decided to take extra care, no reason to make the other man angry by waking him and get on wrong foot with him even before he had even met him. He left his own door slightly open just so sir-pounce-a-lot could leave if he wanted to do some exploring. He wasn't scared that the tabby would leave him, sir-pounce always came back to him by night time, he was a very loyal cat, or lazy who didn't like the great outdoors, Anders choose to believe in the first reason.

As he walked up from the stairs and out to the kitchen he found that two women was already there. One of the women, he assumed it was Merrill since it was an elf, was whisking around in the kitchen making various dishes for breakfast and the other who must be Isabella sat on a chair by the kitchen island in the middle of the room in a tight white dress that showed more of her private areas than it hid. 

The woman with said white dress looked almost comically piraty, she had a blue bandanna, lip piercing huge gold earrings and a very interesting necklace that Anders was not sure if it was actually a necklace or not. What he did know was that she was grinning at him while her eyes unabashedly roaming up and down his body. Luckily, Anders had been warned about her ways and he knew this game and had played it many times himself when he was younger.

"So you are the mage doctor?" She purred sultry. "Dorian did tell me that you were good looking, but not that you were... mhmm, I'd get some whip cream and we can go straight back to your room for breakfast."

Anders was really lucky he knew this game or he would be a blushing stumbling fool in no time under her words. Instead he grinned back at her and gave her a flirty wink. He wasn't exactly a stranger to sex nor flirting, not that he planned to have it with this woman but the game was always refreshing and quite fun. Flirting made him feel young, wanted, desired. Anders had always seen it as healthy to flirt, it was good to feel these things even if it didn't always lead to sex or relationships, it was good to know you were worth the bother.

"I'm Anders yes. I must say that neither Hawke nor Dorian told me that you were sex in high boots, I'd have come earlier had I known." He said with a little laugh.

The rules were simple, be obvious, direct and do not for the love of Andraste blush, or you will be the looser of it. Isabella laughed a jovial approving laugh, her laugh seemed to be able to brighten up a room. She easily patted the chair beside her and Anders slid down on it. 

"You, I like! I say we should keep him, what do you say Kitten?" It was clear that she was speaking to the elf whisking around in the kitchen. 

"Oh did I miss something dirty again?" She asked with a slight pout as she looked at them. "I always seem to miss the dirty and sometimes I really would like to hear it..." She said sounding very disappointed that she had missed it. Anders realized what they meant with the Naive elf. "I'm Merrill, you must be Anders! Do you want scones or eggs benedict?" She asked happily. "Or maybe some pie? I am making apple." 

Anders smiled slightly "Anything that isn't a trouble really. I am  _not_  a picky eater at all." He promised and Merrill smiled wide and bright like the bloody sun and soon there was both scones and eggs benedict in front of him and Isabella as Merrill went on with making cookies and the apple pie she was working on. The kitchen smelled truly heavenly. Anders was reminded of an actual home, he didn't ever want to leave. 

"I can smell eggs benedict." Dorian said as he walked into the kitchen. He was dressed in a very much too big t-shirt with dinosaurs that could only possibly belong to Hawke. "May I please have some Merrill?" Dorian asked smiling and Merrill only seemed happy about someone else wanting food, easily delivering a large portion of the dish to where Dorian sat down. A cup of coffee was placed in front of both Dorian and Anders within short and Anders briefly wondered how he hadn't noticed Merrill making it, she seemed very adapted to the works in a kitchen. 

"Will you be living here with us Anders?" Merrill asked sounding almost hopeful, as if she didn't have enough with all people who lived there already. "You must write me a list of the things you like to eat so I can make them now and then." 

"Well, you know, with the way you cook, I might just have to stay." He hummed with a little laugh. "But I don't want to be a bother and really, I eat anything. I haven't had proper homemade food since before the circle." He said with a little awkward laugh. He always told his patients to try to eat properly then didn't himself.

"You have no choice in the matter, I demand lists from everyone." Merrill said and there was no arguing her there it seemed. 

Dorian and Isabella just laughed lightly. "I wrote her a very long list." Dorian mused "I feel less homesick with her food, it is very lovely." He said gladly before taking another bite of his breakfast. 

"Trust me there is no choice here." Hawke said as he came into the room wearing pink pajama pants with a silly hello kitty pattern. He scratched his beard and planted a sloppy kiss on Dorian's cheek before sitting down on a chair. Dorian huffed a fond  _'Brute dog lord.'_ over the kiss but there was no mistake that Dorian didn't mean it. Merrill plated Hawke scones and nodded agreeing.

"Well then, I'll promise to make you one Merrill." Anders assured with a smile and Merrill looked utterly happy again.

Behind Hawke a happy mabari had padded in, quickly finding the new person and Anders patted his head once, he was not really a dog person and never knew exactly how to pat them, they were too big for his taste. The mabari just happily walked back to rest it's large head in Dorian's lap where he sat. It soon was clear that Dorian only complained about the mabari drooling all over him to be dramatic as he kept feeding the hound small pieces of his breakfast in a half sneaky way, Hawke must see it but clearly didn't care very much.

They all spoke about the items on their lists that they liked to eat and Anders contributed with that he quite liked chicken. Isabella soon explained that Merrill was proud owner of a little diner, she liked to practice her skills when she was home. The diner was called  _'Daisy's Diner'_ Varric had helped her start it up and they were all frequent visitors there.

Merrill excitedly told him how much she loved her little diner, how she already, only open for six months were making a profit on it. All her employees were refugee elves, not that she was racist or anything against the humans, as she quickly added, but no human wanted to work under an elf. Anders thought it was nice, too many elves were unemployed just for their pointy ears.

What Anders loved the most about elves were how expressible their ears were. If they were happy their ears perked up slightly, if they were sad they drooped down. It was so obvious when an elf was honestly happy and excited that it made Anders happy for just watching it. Merrill's ears were happily perked where she was whisking around in the kitchen.

Tevinter elves were harder to read than other elves, slavery was large there and elves were taught by their masters never to let any emotion reflect to face nor ears. Anders had met enough elves who had fled Tevinter masters to know this, the worst had been a frightened teenager that had got the points of his ears roughly cut off because he had bothered his master with a question once. 

He shivered then put his focus back on the conversation around the table while eating his scones. Maker was it good with something freshly baked and homemade, the food in the circle hadn't been _bad_  it just hadn't been homemade. He wasn't the best on making food either unless it came to boiling water for noodles or putting butter on bread.

Anders nearly fell off his chair of excitement when the dwarf stepped into the kitchen, all dressed and ready for business, black pants, red shirt showing off half his chest and a leather jacket. What he was excited over was not that it was a dwarf but that it indeed was Varric Tethras, renown author, seeming to have a finger in just about anything that happened in Kirkwall. 

Hawke gladly introduced them and explained to Varric that Anders was moving into the basement and what had happened the other two days. Varric promised he would make up a good arrangement for rent and such. Anders smiled widely at that, he did like to pay rent, not to loose money but to know that he actually lived some place to call home. Anders was snapped out of his thoughts by Varric's voice as he spoke up.

"Wait wait wait, you think that Broody is the best man for the work?"

"He is really good at fighting." Hawke pointed out and scratched his chest. "And keeping his eyes open."

"Our broody? The mage hating broody who can barely be in the same room as a mage without starting a fistfight?" 

"He can be around me and Bethany without problem." Hawke protested, Anders began getting nervous again. Varric clearly thought this was a bad idea and that was really unnerving if he was to be honest.

"And he don't even start to glow any longer or sound like an angry teapot when Dorian is in the room." Isabella added gladly and Dorian snorted amused. 

"We even trade insults now, we are practically friends." The Tevinter mage said with a little chuckle. 

"I bet there will be a lot of angry sex." Isabella hummed. 

Anders nearly choked on his coffee and began coughing loudly while Isabella patted his back grinning. He groaned loudly at Isabella and rolled his eyes. He should have expected something like that from her. He was just glad he had managed to parry the blush that had threatened to break out in his face. He was not going to have sex with a man he hadn't even met yet, especially not angry sex.

"Mhmm, I would have angry sex with that elf if he'd give it to me." Dorian said dreamy then laughed lightly. 

"Heey! Dorian!" Hawke said and nudged him "What about me?"

"Shh, Dorian you don't get to sleep with Fenris even in my dreams, I have this picture of you and Hawke on a bear fur, naked by a fire." Isabella purred where she sat grinning wickedly. "Mhmm... but Anders! blond hair splaying a pillow, he's on his back, submitting it all to Fenris as Fenris licks his wicked tongue down over Anders leaking c-"

"Knickerweasles! I won't have sex with him Isabella!" Anders exclaimed with a laughter. "Not without buying him a drink and dinner first" He teased her back and winked. Not that he would of course.

"Oh we are so keeping him!" Isabella said with a and Anders relaxed slightly over that it had stopped her from getting him hard thinking over a wicked tongue running down his- _'No! Stop! Don't think of that!'_ he thought scolding to himself.

"...I think I have to find a bear fur and firewood..." Hawke said thoughtfully and Dorian snorted amused as he shuffled his chair closer to Hawke's, the mabari huffed and went to his own bowls of food. 

"Andraste's tits. Blondie you will fit right in won't you?" Varric said and snorted shaking his head amused. "Just don't let broody catch you two talking like that." He warned but with playfulness. "But do go on, Isabella is already brilliant for my smutty novels." Varric said and grinned. 

"Who is good for smutty novels?" A deep voice asked from the door.

Anders thought to himself that that voice should be illegal, really, it was deep and sent pleasurable shivers down his spine. The owner of the voice was dressed in black leggings and had a blanket over his head, hiding everything of his body except his legs, face and a small patch of white hair and a hand that was clenching the blanket while he walked over towards them. Anders could see white tattoos on his chin, under the bangs on his forehead and on his hand.

"I am good for smutty novels!" Isabella said with a wickedly smile, clearly up to something. Anders watched as she got up from her chair, guided the elf over to the now empty chair beside him where she had just sat and plopped him down on it. Fenris eyes Anders up and down with suspicion. "You elves have such pretty eyes!" Isabella said and Fenris sighed deeply looking up at the woman instead with a look saying 'it's too fucking early for this'

"My... eyes are pretty? what do you want now Isabella?" He asked with a deep sigh. Anders couldn't tell what it was but something seemed to sing about him, yes sing, he couldn't find a better word for it, a tempting humming.

"You elves have such pretty eyes, even the men... It makes me want to... pluck them out, and wear them as a necklace." 

"I wouldn't suggest you try." Fenris grunted with that low voice.

"Oh I would never... anyway, this is Anders, our new roommate, I have first dibs on him so paws off pretty boy." She said playfully.

Fenris took another glance at Anders and Anders found that he nearly got a blush over that, this elf was clearly very attractive, Isabella's words of angry sex and submitting to the elf very unhelpfully popped back into his head.

"He's all yours." The elf grunted then turned to the slice of apple pie that was put inf front of him by Merrill and grunted a thank you.

"You could get to join us Fenris. We'll have Anders in the middle and-" 

"Andraste's burning knickers! That will not happen Isabella!" Anders said loudly cutting her off before she had gone far enough to tighten up his jeans for him.

"I agree with the mage. If not for else, it is enough to bed you once. I will not repeat such an event. Now if you excuse me. I will enjoy the sun while it last."

Fenris grabbed his plate in one hand then shuffled out of the kitchen towards the backside of the mansion while his other hand still held on hard to the blanket. Dorian was keeping a straight face but Varric and Hawke had broken out laughing loudly, Isabella gave a little pout saying  _'well you're no fun'_ before she helped herself to one of Anders scones. 

Anders sighed but smiled slightly, he had just been here for some hours and it was feeling more of a home than the circle, the wardens or his own apartment had ever done. Maybe this was it? He had found home.


	4. chapter four: Fenris

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wohoo! Finally Fenris pops up in the story a bit more!

Fenris woke up by the painful throbbing of his lyrium branded skin this morning. His marks were always a cause of pain, ever since the day they were applied into his skin and would undoubtedly cause him pain until the day he died. So Fenris was used to waking up like this, sometimes worse than others. The worst pains usually came when he was as most exhausted, which lead to one of the reason why he was always _'brooding'_ as Varric liked to call it, constant pain would do that to a person, Fenris merely called it pain control. 

There was two ways to sooth the worst of the agony in his skin. When the pain was throbbing and pulsing he could grab a couple of ice cubes and slowly begin stroking them over the marks until it was bearable. When the pain was stabbing, prickling as of needles and knives there was only one way to go about it. Magic.

It had been pure accident that he had discovered the second aid to his marks. He had been out on Sundermount with Hawke, Merrill, Isabella and Carver when those blasted large spiders had attacked them. Kirkwall had tried to get rid of them but Thedas was far from tamed. In the fight Fenris had used his lyrium, fading in and out ripping, slicing and hacking the creatures to little pieces with hands and the ridiculously large broadsword over his back.

> _"Makers breath Fenris! Can't you get a gun like everybody else? You look like you come from a badly made splatter movie." Carver complained as the younger stern Hawke brother stared at him._ _  
> _
> 
> _Fenris just looked down at his blood covered clothes as the last dead poisonous spider slipped off his blade. His marks would be agony later in the night, he already knew that and it soured his mood considerably. Usually he might have pulled some snarky remark, he knew that Carver idolized him, he hadn't known until Isabella and Varric kindly had told him but he knew it now. However he didn't feel to play nice to the younger Hawke right now with the knowledge that his marks would be painful within an hour or two._
> 
> _"Because Danarius branded my skin with lyrium, the closer I get the easier ripping their hearts out are, I could not use them would I use a gun." He snapped short, not that he had to use them, they were just... very effective and he always killed more things and people with that sword than Carver did with his rifle. "Do you think these markings are for beauty?" He growled dangerously making Carver actually back a step holding his hands up._
> 
> _"Fine, fine forget I said anything." Carver said annoyed._
> 
> _Fenris heard Hawke's sigh deeply, Fenris had just been with them for about a month, he was still edgy around Hawke and Merrill. More so to the foolish Dalish woman than the human bear man, she used blood magic and Fenris hated her for it. Carver always made sure to be between the two elves though so Fenris wouldn't attack her. Fenris was grateful for that even if he knew Carver did it for the foolish Dalish woman's safety, he was still glad to have someone in between them._
> 
> _"Why don't you complain with Isabella, she uses daggers."_
> 
> _"Only when people comes too close, Else I too have guns!" The pirate wench pointed out gladly making Fenris scoff annoyed but the conversation was dropped._
> 
> _By nightfall they had made camp by the mountain some away from the Dalish clan, Fenris had taken first watch and sat staring out in the dark, his markings feeling like someone was dragging a knife in the old scars. He didn't make a sound, just clenched his jaws and balled his fists painfully hard where he sat staring out in the dark._
> 
> _He had heard Hawke come over to him of course, those heavy steps could have woken up a Genlock. Hawke's approaching only had him more tense. Stupid mage trying to sneak up on him, was this it? Where Hawke would finally turn on him and attack him, try to slit his throat for more power? This was another reason Fenris liked to have his sword instead of guns, it was large, if someone came at him with a knife his blade would cut them in half and no spell could magically jam up the trigger._
> 
> _Fenris' hand tightened on the grip of his weapon that laid ready and propped up against his knee. But Hawke didn't strike. The large bear man just sat down beside Fenris and looked at him with a look saying he had guessed the pain Fenris was in. Fenris just sighed looking back out in the darkness keeping his mouth shut, he wouldn't start this conversation._
> 
> _"They hurt don't they?" Hawke asked silently while sending a glance towards him_
> 
> _"They do." Fenris said short, his own stubbornness was what still kept him swayed that Hawke and Merrill were bad people due to the magic in their blood. The things that had happened to him in Tevinter... it was too much to just 'let go'_
> 
> _Then they sat in silence for a while longed just staring out in the darkness, a crack from a branch made Hawke snap his head and his large hand landed on Fenris' arm. A wave of magic swooshed into the lyrium lines on his arm and he gasped loudly at the tingling sensation and they all lit up involuntary. Whenever Danarius had touched him it had felt corrupting, painful and menacing. Hawke..._
> 
> _Well, when Hawke touched him his skin was tingling, cooling down it was as if Hawke had dropped a bucket of cold water over his arm swooshing off the worst edge of the pain, lulling his lyrium into the usual state of lesser agony. When Hawke looked back at Fenris with wide eyes and quickly retracted his hand Fenris gave up an involuntary whine as the feeling ebbed away but the pain did not return to his arm even if it persisted in the rest of his body._
> 
> _"W...What did you do?" He heard the shock in his own voice, it was defensive and with all right, none of the mages had used magic on him before, even if Hawke had dulled the pain Fenris was not happy about the usage._
> 
> _"Fenris! I am so sorry! I Thought I heard something! I didn't use any spell it was just.... magic Fenris I am so sorry!" Hawke honestly sounded terrified but Fenris was too occupied staring shocked at his arm having scooted away from Hawke._
> 
> _He slowly let the lyrium deactivate as he tried to force his body into relaxing. Hawke hadn't meant it, the panicked look in Hawke's eyes told him that much, the mage clearly regretted it. Fenris kept staring at his arm, while the rest of his body was aching painfully, his arm was it normal dull pain that he could easily handle. Hawke looked like one of the slaves that had dropped a very, very expensive bottle of Danarius' wine... maybe he hadn't meant it._
> 
> _"It... doesn't hurt... What did you..?" Fenris slowly began but Hawke didn't let him finish stumbling over an explanation and apologize._
> 
> _"I am so sorry Fenris! ...well I always have the potential to do magic... I mean mages can do magic all the time but it won't manifest unless we put a spell behind it." Hawke tried to explain blushing slightly in the dark. "My magic just... well, felt the potential in the lyrium I assumed and... I don't know.. I am so sorry."_

Fenris had pulled away from Hawke for some hour after that then the uneven pain had become too much, when it was everything hurting it was easier. He had reluctantly asked Hawke to do it again, slowly, Hawke had began letting the magic soothe his skin. Constantly telling what he did and when he did it. Hawke had babbled on about some theory  that had gone over Fenris' head. Fenris had come to trust Hawke a lot more after that, enough to come to him many times again to dull down the ache when it was at it's worst. 

He only allowed Hawke to do it though. Merrill had offered once and he couldn't stop himself from cursing her and threaten her that he'd tear her heart out if she came close with her filthy blood magic. The Naive stupid Dalish hadn't even taken offence. Bethany had offered once but Fenris had politely decline her offer. Bethany and Hawke had slowly gained his respect. Of course almost a year later, he was accepting Merrill, not her magic around him but he spoke to her without cursing and threatening but she held just as low on his 'mage acceptance scale' like that pest of Tevinter altus that had joined Hawke's little crew.

Fenris groaned and reached for the remote at his nightstand, turned on the stereo where he laid under the thick blankets in the dark room. His lips curled into a smile as 'Karma Chameleon' turned on loudly and he curled up more comfortably on the bed. There was a few things Fenris took pleasure in after his life in Tevinter with his former master, music was one of them. Any music between the seventies and the nineties brought a smile to the elf's lips. 

Danarius had enjoyed music too, but it was the classy sort of music like opera. His old master had perfectly loathed whenever he had heard such music that was now blasting loudly from the stereo, eating away the silence of the room. Fenris sometimes wondered if he really enjoyed that music or if it was to spite Danarius, he always came to the conclusion that he didn't care for the reason as long as it made him smile.

Fenris had escaped Danarius several years earlier, he had been broken but claimed freedom as his own. He was a trained warrior for as long as he could remember even if Danarius would have many more uses for him than just that. His old master liked to use him as a bodyguard, pet, attack dog, bed-warmer, guest entertainer, table, personal lyrium supply and many other things Fenris tried not to remember.

One of Danarius Favorite things to do with Fenris, beyond the obvious use as a personal guard and personal endeavors, was to enter him to the Tevinter fighting rings. High ranked, rich magisters could petition their slaves or servants to the competition. In the rings they would meet another slave or an animal of some sort to fight. It was not rare that it was a fight to the death, especially the times Danarius petitioned Fenris in the rings because his master would lean in and say that Fenris was his good little wolf and if he left nothing of his opponent but a body there would be a smaller reward. 

The rewards could be everything between treats as a meal to sleeping a night in a t-shirt instead of his tight leather clothes or in his nude. At the time he had thought those things were boons. He had thought that his master was a kind man, that he was a lucky elf because Danarius allowed him such luxurious things, now he knew better and he knew he would never return willingly to him.

When his master had petitioned him in one of these games at Sheron where the possibility to fight Qunari existed there had been an attack. Fenris had managed to get his master to a ship but there had been no room for a slave. On his own Fenris had met with interesting people and after some months he had realized what freedom was like and he had ran.

Fenris had fled to the south, stealing coin when he could, dodged slavers when  he could but also fought and killed enough slavers to start to wonder how many there could be left as there always came more. That was at least until he had reached Kirkwall. The city of chains, there had been so many refugees that he had been able to blend in if he kept his head low and never activated his brands. 

Keeping low meant he couldn't steal very much coin which meant he needed other means to get food. He had done the only thing he knew how to do, found the illegal fighting rings and entered himself as one of the fighters, well he had tried to enter himself but they had demanded there to be a patron for entering. Kirkwall's fighting rings were not as in Tevinter, it was not legal and it was not a fight to the death. Thus the loosing part needed someone that could drag their beaten bodies to get patched up or at least dispose the bodies outside the city. 

Fenris had found a man desperate enough to enter the elf in a match. The man had once been a templar and knew where all the good illegals rings were. Within short Samson had realized what a gold mine he had found in Fenris and entered him in far too many of the fights while giving far too little profit to Fenris himself. The winnings mostly went to Samson, only a Friction was left to Fenris, who couldn't argue because he had no other choice.

That had been until Hawke and Varric had shown up one of those nights. After a particularly gruesome mach that had been Fenris against three others, Varric had offered him a way out of there. He had told that there were many other jobs to be had for good pay for a man with Fenris' talents. Hawke had offered him a room for his own, no ties he could move whenever he wanted. Fenris had taken one look in Samson's direction then shook Varric's and Hawke's hands. 

Fenris had become part of Hawke's strange little mix of strays he liked to call family, he had moved into the room in Hawke's basement. Varric set him up with different jobs here and there and Fenris was allowed to keep all profit, all he had to do was pay a smaller rent. He also followed Hawke when he had some missions of his own, mostly it was along with Varric, Isabella, Carver, Bethany and Sebastian. Sometimes also with Aveline.

But as for right now, he was dead tired, body aching, marks throbbing and his stomach growling in protest of not having eaten since lunch by yesterday. Listening to the cheery music blasting from the radio for a while he quietly wondered if Merrill had made breakfast... he had to admit she did know the ways around the kitchens, surprising since she had lived in the forests with her Dalish clan all her life. 

He dragged himself up out of bed with a loud groan then padded over to the bathroom and took an ice shower to dull the pain in his skin. He only dressed in underwear and leggings then pulled his thick warm cozy blanket over his head to cover his chest before he ventured out from his room and up the stairs leading to the main floor and kitchen.

If he would be lucky, Isabella would still be fast asleep some more hours. The pirate wench, well, smuggler wench that liked to be called pirate, he had been utterly horrible to be around ever since they had sex two weeks ago. She kept trying to get back into his pants and Fenris had no interest of having reoccurring sex with anyone. He wanted nothing that could resemble a relationship, he was fine when it was just the carnal need for release, one night stands with nothing in the path of emotions, raw sex, all very Tevinter of him he moodily thought.

As he walked into kitchen he just heard the last of Varrics statement of "ideas for my smutty novels." He saw the new blond human man in the kitchen, another of Hawkes strays he assumed. Hawke and his misfits were all starting to look like their own little mercenary group. He patted Nug as the mabari came over and headbutted his leg.

"Who is good for smutty novels?" He asked tiredly as he went for the freezer and pulled out one of the bags with ice and grabbed a handful before turning around to look at them.

"Me, I'm good at smutty novels." Isabella purred, of course it was Isabella, who had he expected. She had jumped up her chair and now began guiding him to said chair and pushed him down on it. He tensed some, unmistakably the new blond was yet another mage. He was just about to complain when Isabella spoke first. "You have pretty eyes."

"My eyes... are pretty? What do you want now Isabella?" He asked with a tired sigh.

He dropped his ice cubes on the kitchen island he sat by and took one stroking it over one of the scarred lyrium lines on his right hand. Merrill put out a cup of coffee for him and he gave her a thankful grunt. He could feel the new blond man's gaze on him but ignored it, it wasn't unusual for people to stare at him, he was just happy he had his blanket over his head and torso.

"You elves has so pretty pretty eyes, even the men... it makes me want to... pluck them out and wear them as a necklace." she said in her suggestive voice.

"I wouldn't suggest you try." Fenris grunted. 

"Oh I would never. Anyway, this is Anders, our new roommate, I have first dibs on him so paws off." 

Fenris made a disgusted noise, he would never have interest in a mage... that... was not true. Hawke was an attractive man, even if he was a mage, but the Tevinter magister had his claws in him already. Okay, maybe Dorian had proven not to be an evil magister, well, he was no magister at all, but an Altus was just as bad in Fenris' eyes. But the Tevinter mage had proven to be nothing like Danarius so Fenris no longer had the urge to kill him.

But he was not going to be interested by this new mage, especially not since he didn't even know what kind of man he was. No the only reason he liked Hawke was because he had offered him so much, because he was loyal, a friend. That was Fenris' reasoning reasoning anyway. 

He knew that Isabella was plotting though, he hated when people told him he could not do something, it turned him adamant to prove them wrong, but not this time, he told himself. He would not sleep with the mage just because Isabella was trying to manipulate him into it. He probably wouldn't even have much to do with the man anyway, just as he had very little to do with Dorian or Merrill.

"He is all yours." He grunted and put butter on his scones before he took a bite, ignoring Isabella's look of disappointment. 

"You can get to join us Fenris, we can have Anders in the middle and-" She began suggesting but was cut short by the blond mage self in question.

"Andraste's burning knickers! That will not happen!" The blond mage exclaimed loudly. 

"I agree with the mage. If for nothing else, it is enough to bed you once. I will not repeat such an event. Now if you excuse me. I will enjoy the sun while it last."

Kirkwall was warmer than Ferelden he had heard, but it was not as hot as Tevinter. If there was something he missed from Tevinter it was the weather and when the sun was beaming as it did today, Fenris usually tried to get every ounce of the heat on him.

***

Fenris laid on his back in the pool floating on the bright pink inflatable mattress in nothing but boxer briefs with ed hardy pattern. Merrill might be a naive blood mage but she always somehow managed to get Fenris the perfect gifts. At first he had thought that she used blood magic and cursed her name for it, then he had realized that she was simply very much more present and clever than they gave her credit for. 

He huffed when something jumped out at him as he drifted close to the edge of the pool and looked down at the cat that curled up on his chest. It wasn't Dorian's cursed creature this time, but an orange cat. Fenris wasn't much of a cat person but cat's always seemed to be drawn to him. He subconsciously began gently stroke over the cat's fur and felt it purr as he closed his eyes again. 

"Fenris, I have to ask you of something, it's a job." 

Fenris jerked slightly since he had just began to drift asleep on the mattress. He shoot a killing glare at Hawke for having startled him in such manner but just sighed deeply before he gave up a grunt and a nod to acknowledge that he was listening to him.

"Well, Anders, the new mage around here is in some troubles. Two days ago someone tried to make him tranquil and yesterday they drugged him, probably aimed to kill him." Fenris briefly wondered  **how** Hawke always seemed to meet such strange people but let the thought go.

"Who?" Fenris asked and opened his eyes looking at Hawke "If he is another blood mage you know I wan't nothing to do with him." He said short and direct. Another person might have recoiled at his harshness but Hawke had probably grown used by now.  

"No! No, he's a healer, he work at the hospital, and the Darktown clinic, you know the one?" 

Fenris knew, he had heard many people speak good about the clinic, people who had had nothing of value could still get the treatment they so desperately needed for survival. Maybe this mage wasn't so bad then? Maybe he was like Hawke, just wanted to help people, not that he would let his guards down just because Anders claimed to be a good man.

"I know of the place yes." 

"He need protection, Varric and Aveline already put it out to be a real work, monthly pay and everything, you just, follow him around when he's outside the house." 

His bodyguard. Fenris thought bitterly, he was to be yet another mage's bodyguard. It tasted bitter in his mouth... but Hawke was asking him, Varric and Aveline had set this out as a real work, a work which he would earn money... The idea was rather tempting. Perhaps being a bodyguard with a pay would be different, and he was not Anders attack dog, he was there to keep his eyes on the mage, not do his bidding. 

"I will accept." He said as he stroke the cat's fur. "I lay the rules, I will be guarding, not following his orders."

"Of course Fenris, this is not like Danarius." Hawke said gently, Fenris had not told him all about his previous life but he had told Hawke enough. "Anders is a good man, a doctor and a healer who gives pretty much anything he have to the less fortunate." Hawke explained.

"When do I start?" 

"Preferably? Today, all of his things were broken so we planned on all of us go out shopping, we'd like it if you joined."

Fenris thought his options over, spending rest of the day here floating in the sun in just underwear was tempting... but there was a couple of things he wanted to buy as well along with the fact that he needed new shampoo. 

"Do I have time for a quick shower?" He asked and held the cat over to Hawke. 

Hawke took the cat and put the orange tabby on solid ground "take your time, I have to walk Nug before we go anyway."

"Then I will join you when I am done."

"Brilliant, we are meeting Carver and Beth there." Hawke said cheerfully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up! going to the mall and Fenris finds out just what an infuriating mage Anders is.


	5. chapter five: Shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang goes shopping, Anders likes to flirt and they meet up with some more people!

They take two cars when they go shopping. They would have all fitted in Hawke's car since he apparently owned a large family car with eight seats, but Hawke insisted he was not going to leave his large assed mabari alone at home. The other residents had agreed on that, Isabella saying she had new boots in her room. The mabari took up three seats in the back on his very own, well, two seats, but if anyone sat back with him they'd have to have that slobbery drooling head in their laps or faces. 

Dorian had quickly called shotgun and slid into the front seat so he could have his hand on top of Hawke's. So that meant Anders and Fenris was seated in the middle seat of the car. Isabella, Merrill and Varric were all in Isabella's car. Varric had one, apparently but he never drove it since he had a rough time reaching the _'bloody pedals'._

Anders still didn't know very much about Fenris, more than that Hawke had said Fenris accepted the job of being his bodyguard. He supposed that was something to be grateful for, the others trusted Fenris so Anders could assume he Fenris wouldn't stab him in the back or abandon him if there was more trouble.

When Anders had walked out out with Merrill and Isabella to the cars, Fenris had stood there waiting for them, dressed in black rave pants with blue circles and the mushrooms from super Mario in reflective plastic making it look like his pants were glowing. No shoes just bare toes peeking out from under the wide hems of his pants and a too large black hoodie hiding his arms and most of his brilliantly white hair.

Isabela laughed and clapped her hands eagerly, Fenris growled at her, looking rather pissed actually. Anders was guessing that those pants weren't... his usual gearup. He also guessed that Isabela was the one behind it.

"Oh Fenris! That is entirely adorable! When we come back your debt is payed." Isabela said gladly and laughed as she slid into her own car. 

Fenris spat a curse after her and straightened the high waste of his pants somewhere under his large hoodie. Anders saw the tattoo on his fingers and hands, they were white and... to be honest, they fitted to his pants but bringing it up seemed to be a bad idea. He had seen that Fenris had rubbed ice along the lines and Anders wondered if it was a tattoo that had gone wrong.

He had seen enough tattoos gone wrong begin to itch and ache as there was an inflammation underneath the skin. Maybe he should offer to check the marks up later. Now, was simply not the time. There was also something with Fenris, a sort of humming, not the humming that was really a sound to be heard, more like the fade or a lyrium potion was humming, the scent of metallic lyrium was part of him as well.

It wasn't like the templars, the templars did have both a humming and a smell from the lyrium they consumed, but Fenris' smell and humming was different, more intense or perhaps more alive. Anders couldn't make up his mind about it, only that it was a mystery he hoped to one day unravel. 

* * *

 

"Do you know that you smell like lyrium."

They were sitting in the car now, Hawke driving, Dorian beside him, Fenris and Anders in the middle seats of the car. The question had just slipped out of him as they so often did. They weren't always good questions and he never meant bad with them, but sometimes they came before he had time to deflect them. Like when he had said that demons were just spirits with sparkling personalities to Justice, it hadn't been meant as bad but the spirit had taken it as an insult. 

"It is because my body is branded with it." Fenris said sounding utterly bored. 

"Wait what? How are you even alive then? Shouldn't you have died by a shock? Poisoned at instant?" Anders asked curiously, a bit shocked.

He leaned as close as his seat-belt allowed him to. Was the white tattoos really lyrium? That was what was humming then, but by all right, Fenris should be dead, lyrium was a slow poison, that's why the templars went barking mad in the end. Well, more mad than they already were. 

"I don't know." 

"What do you mean you don't know?" 

"I didn't choose to have them mage." 

Anders looked at Fenris. It was a bit like trying to chat up Nathaniel by asking him if he was a Howe. He wouldn't get more information without pissing Fenris off so he decided to lay low. But Anders had managed to finally chat up Nathaniel hadn't he? Him and Nathaniel had even got... intimate so, he'd just get this elf to chat to him, converse not bite of words like if it was sour candy. Anders smiled at the memory of his warden friend, he would just have to find something to say to Fenris that made the elf interested in speaking to him.

* * *

Hawke had drove them to a mall. After some time of walking around Anders again had a smaller wardrobe in his bags. Dorian was the one helping him pick out nice looking clothes, he didn't trust Hawke even a little with fashion advises, just look at his t-shirts, simply no. Isabela? No, the pants Fenris was wearing was telling him not to trust Isabela's fashion advice, nor Merrill's. Varric had suggested him a shirt that showed most of his chest so the dwarf was out of the question.

Dorian however, he had a good sense of taste, maybe it was because he was from Tevinter. The two of them chatted about magic, mages, Tevinter, the circles, templars or just about anything that they were curious of from the different countries. 

It was nice, Anders realized, to have someone to chat to again, like he used to chat to his warden family. Then it had been the warden commander who had a sense of fashion, apparently she had to have it, being a queen and all. Since after the wardens he had only had Justice for friend, Karl had been a friend, was still a friend he supposed but Karl didn't mind the system too much and Anders had huge problems with the system. Anders had left the wardens in a hurry and not been able to tell the people he trusted where he planned to go.

Though, he was more or less on friendly terms with Hawke's people here by now and almost counted them as friends. Dorian and Hawke mostly since he knew them the most. Isabela was a flirt but he liked her, Merrill was sweet but he was a bit worried about her blood magic, Fenris... well he simply didn't know Fenris.

This all was really familiar though. He had known these people for about day and they just all pulled him into the mismatched family of Hawke's. Dorian who seemed happy to have someone to chat with about magical theories. Hawke and Varric laughing loudly at jokes. Isabella and him had a flirting war and Merrill simply seemed happy to babble about things she knew or just listen to them all. He even sometimes caught Fenris smile slightly at jokes, there was indeed hope for the elf.

They went on for a while before they met up with Bethany and Sebastian, Bethany was Hawke's younger sister, Sebastian was a friend of theirs, mostly to Bethany of what he gathered as Bethany had her arm hooked with his. Carver, Hawke's other brother and Bethany's twin arrived soon after, he had _'accidentally'_  ended up walking beside Merrill smiling at her now and then softly.

By lunch time they all went to the hanged man. It was a bar, where Varric had an office, he apparently owned the bar. They slid down in a booth and Anders found himself sitting beside Fenris. Or rather Fenris had sat down beside him, either he was protecting him or by slump. Anders didn't really know, he didn't really care he was too hungry to really care.

"Do you know I once knew a man named Howe?" He asked and grinned looking at Fenris. He knew the others looked at him interested and he chuckled "Okay, his name was Nathaniel but last name Howe, I wish I'll meet with the Why's the Who's and the What's too! They could be like my very own collection!" He said gladly. 

"...What?" Fenris asked slowly.

The elf stared at him in bewilderment as if Anders was entirely bonkers and Hawke broke out laughing along with Varric and Isabela. Dorian was clearly trying not to laugh keeping his hand by his mouth. Clearly grinning at the joke.

"Oh I get it!" Merrill said with a giggle and Bethany giggled too.

Sebastian looked at them all disapproving for laughing at such a horrible joke. Fenris just huffed and rolled his eyes, probably deciding that everyone around the table were absolutely barking mad.

The food that came to them were great, this bar maybe didn't look very nice but damn they could make fries and burgers better than McDonald's. As they spoke, Varric began spin on a story about the time Hawke had once eaten an entire jar of jalapenos and drank it down with hot sauce on a dare. Hawke and Isabela helpfully added more and more _'details'_  to the story and soon it was an entire new tale about how Hawke had bested a high dragon with his bare hands to save a damsel in distress. The damsel in distress soon was changed into a Dorian in distress, with a dress, and glass slippers.

Anders sure couldn't complain about his new companions. He was clearly calling them friends, these were the sort of people you became friends with to make life a brighter place and he were lucky they had stumbled into his life. Even Fenris was chuckling at the joking and crazy stories that were being tossed around and Anders was rather certain of exactly what his new favorite thing was. After sir-pounce-a-lot of course.

When they had eaten and calmed down some from their silly story telling Carver turned to Anders looking as if he was trying to read him and Anders chuckled lightly. 

"I promise asking questions will tell you more about me than you staring at me all day." He said with a wink. "Yes Grey Warden stamina is a thing." He said and nodded because Carver had asked a few questions about the wardens. 

"That was not... what I was going to ask..." Carver blushed slightly.

"Oooh, Carver." Hawke said and winked at his little brother.

"Stop it Garret! Anders, How does one stop being a grey warden?" Carver said annoyed and looked at Anders. 

"How does one stop being anything that's meant to be for life? You run away of course. Kirkwall is good because there are no warden outposts." Anders said gladly.

In his case though Justice had helped him run away and both of them had left Amaranthine behind and not looked back ever since. Well ever since now. He had emailed the commander for those maps. Carver however didn't look very happy about the reply at all. 

"But... don't you feel an obligation to the wardens?" Carver asked incredulous. 

"I am doing more good here than there. The grey warden commander recruited me to stop a darkspawn problem, we fixed it and I left, simple really." He said and smiled. 

"But, how about now? The grey wardens are still..." 

"Yes yes, the hopelessly bound to the warden deal still holds, I have the fancy nightmares and the... stamina." He wiggled his brows. "But if you don't wear the uniform and you don't go to the parties, people don't have to live in the deep roads fighting darkspawn." he said gladly. 

"Nightmares?" 

"Carver I can't talk about this, warden hush hush. If you are planning on joining, I tell you now, don't. It's a bad, bad line of work with horrible pension deals." 

Carver gave up on questions after that even if they were balling theories back and forth which Anders decided to neither confirm nor deny, unless it was dirty suggestions sent from Isabela, he confirmed all of those even if it wasn't true, it was too fun to see Carver and Bethany blush over those things. Fenris however was watching Anders with a new interest. Anders wasn't sure if it was for good or bad and simply let it be.

After a while the suggestions began to ebb out and even Isabela was running out of ideas, it was good too. To be honest, the grey wardens wasn't his favorite subject to talk about, thinking about it pulled out memories of the deep roads and endless hoards of darkspawn, ogres and shrieks he would prefer not to think about unless he absolutely had to.

"So, blondie, think you can get those maps for us?" Varric asked with a smile and Anders nodded.

"I sent a mail to Lyna asking her to call me, she has to do it when she knows no one is listening, the others think me and Justice are dead or at some exotic place."

"Give me a holler when you get news." 

Anders nodded and checked his phone just in case but there was no waiting calls from the warden commander. It was a bit disappointing really but he quickly brushed it away from his minds to enjoy the day with his new friends.

* * *

 "You know, I knew someone like you once." 

"Like me?" Fenris looked at him and arched a perfect dark brow. "Do you mean elves or do you mean former slaves?"

"What? Oh I know both but not what I meant, I meant dark broody and handsome, didn't talk much."

Fenris coughed and looked back out of the car window. They had finished their shopping and were now in the car again. Hawke had invited Bethany, Carver and Sebastian for dinner and hadn't accepted no for an answer. Bethany had been thrilled and she had talked Sebastian into it. Carver had sent a small look to Merrill then smiled just the slightest before trying to look grumpy and accepted _'only because I'm out of food at home'_  But they all, with exception of Merrill, knew the real reason to Carver joining was because of the Dalish woman.

"What do you want mage?" Fenris grumbled annoyed.

"Oh nothing nothing! Just admiring a good view when I see it."

Dorian whistled at that from the front seat and Fenris shot him a dangerous glare that had the potential to kill. Hawke laughed quietly from the front seat. Carver who sat in the backseat with Nug groaned and Sebastian who sat at Anders right side stared at him as if he was insane. Anders grinned toothy. 

"Ugh can you two not?" Carver grumbled annoyed. "I already have dog drool in my lap, I don't need to hear awful flirting." He complained. 

"Observing is a good way to learn though!" Anders said and chuckled lightly "What do you say Fenris, we can teach Carver how to properly kiss, you better kiss me." he said sounding serious. 

Dorian and Hawke broke out laughing, Carver groaned loudly and looked out a window. Sebastian muttered something under his breath and Fenris stared him dead in the eyes. 

"I can reach into your chest and pull out your beating heart. Don't antagonize me mage." He warned. 

"You didn't tell me to stop." He said and clutched his hand over his heart. "There's a chance then!" He said in played eagerness. 

Fenris looked at him then as if he was weighing his options before he actually let out an amused snort and shook his head looking out the window again.

* * *

No hearts were ripped out in the car, but there was no kisses either, too bad, Anders would have loved to kiss Fenris. He wasn't going to stop try to flirt Fenris into kissing him though. It seemed that Fenris had a good sense of humor and that overplaying and sarcasm seemed to go home the most with the prickly elf, it was good, he now had a plan. 

The rest of the evening went on nicely. Merrill got help by Carver, Bethany and Isabela with dinner. Fenris had quickly moved down to his bedroom to change his pants, Anders was a little mournful of that because those rave pants were actually fitting him really good. Though, he wondered what Fenris usually wore, he doubted that it was leggings and a blanket as he had in the morning. 

Merrill's food was simply great, they had gone on one of Carvers favorite foods, Anders wasn't entirely sure what it was more than  some sort of meat, but it tasted really good, really Ferelden. They left the dishes for tomorrow when they were done with the dinner and went to the living room to play cards.

Varric told them insane stories, Isabella used said stories attention to cheat at wicked grace, Dorian pretended to not enjoy the slobbering dog head in his lap. Hawke sat with his arm wrapped around Dorian's waist, his head leaned to Dorian's shoulder as they were playing cards as a team. Carver sent Merrill longing blushing glances. Bethany and Sebastian constantly seemed to share small brushes of hands or arms in pretend innocence. 

And Anders? Well Anders wasn't forgotten by the group. He told them some crazy stories about his grey warden days, like when the warden commander had decided they should go down the deep roads to find some treasure that ended up being a deepstalker lair, and how Ogrhen always was drunk but never went low on booze no matter how long they were in the deep roads. Anders even shared the story of how him and Nathaniel had been caught with their pants down measuring sizes, try to explain that to the nobles who had visited the keep that night!

Anders could have sworn he even heard Fenris laugh lightly at that story as the elf sat with his hand nursing a glass of red wine and the other holding his cards. Anders saw it as quick progress on the Fenris front. He didn't even mind when he lost his hand in the game as he was occupied in being happy over that Fenris was almost warming up to him and that he was accepted in this gang of people. 

"I have a feeling living here will cost me if you will play off all money I own!" He groaned in pretend complaining. 

"Don't worry Blondie, you can always win them back." Varric teased as he dealed out more cards. 

"Oh no. I don't have more coin." Merrill said with a large pout. 

Carver shuffled closer and mumbled something that had the elf perk up and sit huddled close to Carver as they apparently teamed up. Varric handed over some coin to Hawke and Hawke grinned impishly and grabbed them, clearly there was a bet going on. Fenris grunted and held over some coins to Hawke as well, Anders breifly wondered what the bet had been.

After another hour, maybe two, time passes when one have fun and Anders didn't care about keeping track of time. He decided it was time to go to bed, the feeling of belonging stayed comfortably in his chest. The feeling  of being home.


	6. chapter six: First day.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fenris first day at the new job. Anders is occupied to stare at the handsome elf in his nice work clothes. 
> 
> (minor smutty things happen down in the end of this chapter, very minor, mostly kissing)

When Monday arrived, Anders little mini vacation was over. Walking up to the kitchen he was surprised to find Merrill in already up and in full business of making breakfast. Anders in his quiet mind wondered if elves even slept at all, that maybe Merrill was just always awake. But then he shook his head and smiled, as a doctor he knew that wasn't true. He walked over to her and got a cup of coffee before he sat by the kitchen island so he could watch Merrill cook.

She was making homemade fries in a wok quick and skilled as if she'd never done anything in her life other that cook. Anders suddenly remembered that she was the owner of a diner and it made sense as to why she was awake this early. For someone who owns a diner, seven in the morning on a Monday, wasn't really early. Merrill on the weekend had been up at eight or nine anyway and this was just an hour or two earlier than this. 

"Good morning Merrill." He said and gave the busy elf a smile then hid a little yawn. 

"Oh, good morning Anders. I am sorry, I don't have time to make you anything special today, I am heading to work soon. But you can come by for lunch if you want, Fenris knows where the diner is." She chirped joyfully. 

The Dalish elf always seemed to smile and be on a good mood, he wondered how she didn't look at least a little tired this early when himself felt like a zombie. Even if she was used to early mornings she should look at least a little bit tired. But the elf just smiled as she put a large portion of the fries and bacon in front of him on a plate.

Anders was rather stunned by  the sheer size of the breakfast, usually he stuffed some bread in his mouth before he left his apartment to hurry to work, this was a bit like living in a hotel who served the most amazing breakfasts and dinners. He laughed lightly at his own thoughts and took a bite of the food. The bite made him groan loudly as the flavors of perfectly fried fries with a homemade cheese cheddar invaded his mouth. 

"Makes breath Merrill, this is better than sex. You're the perfect girl you know and I'd kiss you if I wasn't scared Carver might come here and punch me for it." He informed her.

She giggled lightly plating three more portions of food. He figured one was for herself and one for Fenris, he did wonder who the third person awake this time of day was but he decided against asking.

"Carver wouldn't punch you would he? That sound rather rude of him." She said and shook her head smiling. 

Anders realized her smile was fond but that she really was oblivious to the youngest Hawke brother who was so clearly interested in her. It wasn't his place to point out the obvious, the two of them would have to figure that one out themselves. He just shook his head and left it alone. 

"I'm afraid Mondays are the busiest day of the week though, so I can't come over for lunch, they will need me all day." He said apologetic to her and he meant it, he'd love to come over for lunch some time, Mondays just weren't ideal for him to leave the hospital buildings just to have lunch.

She smiled at him and nodded. "I understand Anders, You should take two of the food containers from the freezer though, for you and Fenris, so have lunch I mean. Going without lunch isn't good for any of you and Fenris get's rather more grumpy. I need more space there anyway, I don't like throwing away food but far too few people here need leftover for lunch. I think Fenris is the only one eating them and he never eats the fish." Merrill sounded a little mournful over that no one ate the food containers of leftovers, Anders wondered why that was because Merrill's food making was simply divine.

"I'd love to have them for lunch, doctors don't get much time off for lunch breaks to go and actually buy lunch." Anders said and smiled at her.

He was thankful and kind of excited that he'd have different food boxes of interesting leftovers from Merrill to lunch from now on, maybe he'd gain some much needed body weight living in a place where he would have proper, regular food. He could have it at his old home too he supposed but he'd always end up giving away most of his money and most of his food or find himself not having time to take lunch breaks. 

Anders new contract to stay in the mansion with them all was that he payed a smaller rent and heal anyone around if they sustained any injuries. That was the best deal he'd ever had in his entire life it seemed. Sure the grey warden had been a nice thing too but to be honest, the whole hopelessly tainted for life deal was a bummer. Even if he'd known about the taint before, he'd still have joined the wardens, he didn't ever regret those years. But now, the people in Kirkwall needed him more than the wardens, along with some few other reasons.

Everyone in the house all had different contracts tailored for them, Merrill wouldn't pay any rent but she would be the one who purchased most food and cooked them all dinner. Isabela payed more rent but also sold any odds and ends Hawke found that needed to be sold. Dorian and Hawke.. well Anders wasn't very sure on them. And Fenris... did some sort of mercenary thing, whenever Hawke needed something killed in Soundermount or some  slavers or anything like that, he would bring Fenris. 

It was nice though, how everyone in the house had a place for themselves and how it worked for them all. No one seemed to complain too much about anything in the household. Well Fenris sometimes was heard complaining about magic and mages but he wasn't as bad as Anders had thought he'd be when they had said mage hating elf. Fenris was a lot more civil than most of the templars, in and out the circle.

"Morning Daisy, Morning Blondie." 

Anders thoughts were interrupted by Varric's voice and he nodded his good mornings back to the dwarf then hid a large yawn behind his hand smiling slightly and returned to eating his breakfast fries again. He didn't actually have time to space out like that, he needed to eat then get going. Well, get going whenever Fenris decided that they were going since Fenris was designated driver and bodyguard in one person. 

Varric made himself a cup of coffee and took one of the untouched plates of breakfast before thanking Merrill as he put his bluetooth in his ear and began calling around in a very businesslike way. It hit Anders that other than writer, he had no idea what Varric did for a living. He wondered if these calls were book related or if it was something else. But he didn't listen in because that felt rather rude against someone who let him stay there almost for free. 

He was anyway interrupted from wondering about Varric when Fenris stepped into the kitchen. He had black slim jeans showing of spectacular legs, a black button down shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His feet were bare as they usually were on most elves. His white hair had been styled the slightest instead of just laying flat. Anders hadn't thought about the earrings before, a couple of rings up by the tip of his left ear.

And damn he was hot. Fenris was smoking and Anders couldn't help but staring at him. 

The shirt was slim and fitted, to him specifically, it must be, because that shirt showed more muscles than Anders thought possible on such a lanky elf. Anders got the urge to just let his hands stroke over the shirt, feel Fenris out, help him out of it then lick the elf's chest. Anders was a little concerned that he were maybe drooling by the sight put in front of him. He saw the gun to Fenris' right thigh, tightly secured by two straps around the thigh and one strap attached to his belt. 

The gun added a danger to Fenris that was... really hot. The kind of hot Anders never thought he'd think a man with a gun would be. Really, what kind of person was Anders that thought a gun on this man was hot, he wasn't even certain he want to think about that. Merrill's little nudge and giggle pulled him back to reality and he smiled sheepishly looking at Fenris who looked questioning at him. 

"I'm sorry, did you ask something? I was admiring the view again." Anders hummed and winked.

Fenris sighed deeply with an eye roll and sat down beside him to eat his breakfast. The gun, it made Fenris look like a secret spy, that was kind of hot, Anders supposed he'd seen way to many spy movies. "I asked if something was wrong mage. But I will assume it isn't." the elf said and dug in on his fries. He grunted a _'thank you'_  to Merrill and Merrill smiled that happy smile again.

"Well, I have one concern, the gun. The hospital has a non weapon policy, even the templars aren't allowed more than to carry a teaser guns." He said and glanced back at the gun on the elf's thigh. 

"He has a permission." Varric said as he hung up. "Trust me, that gun is the better option of his preferred weapon." The dwarf said amused. 

"What do you usually have?" Anders asked curiously. What was worse then a gun? Dynamite? 

"Sword." Fenris grunted. 

Anders blinked and looked at him. Sword? Like sword, sword or..? Did he really mean a real fucking sword? Anders glanced to Varric and arched his brows in question and the dwarf chuckled and nodded a silent,  _'no shitting you Blondie'_ before he returned to his phone calls.

"You mean you walk around with a real sword?" Anders asked and looked at Fenris who was shuffling food down his throat.

"Oh yes, it's as tall as himself too, but it's really deadly, Fenris is the best at killing things, and people." Merrill said and finished her food putting away her dishes.  "But he's deadly without it too." Merrill quickly said to assure him that Fenris was still good without his sword.

"I will keep you safe." Fenris grunted and finished his breakfast.

Anders didn't doubt it, everyone going against Fenris would be stunned by the handsome elf and his tight shirt showing of defined muscles underneath the black fabric. Fenris was that kind of hot that could turn straight men gay with just a look or maybe some deep words. Before they'd have time to lift a finger in defence he'd cut them down with an overly large sword... Yeah, Anders could imagine that.

"I bet you will." He mumbled and Varric laughed amused, whether it was for Anders comment or his phone, Anders would never know.

* * *

Not very surprisingly the templars did not approve of Fenris nor that he was carrying a gun. They said that templars were there to protect, not local pretenders who didn't know what they were doing. They also pointed out the _'no weapon rule.'_ and that Fenris' gun was a violation of that.

Meredith was of course called to the hospital and loudly went on about gun regulation laws, Anders was impressed by seeing the elf just give her two calling cards and calmly told her that one was to officer Vallen, the other to seneschal Bran, the viscounts closest man. Meredith gave both numbers a call, shouted some more but was clearly shot down.

Anders had to admit that he was damn amused as he watched the knight commander march away in fury raging about that they hadn't heard the last from her. Karl had given off a little chuckle and Orsino had just shook his head before shooing them all back to work, it was monday and they all had a lot of patients as always.

Fenris remained outside his door whenever Anders had patients and sat with him between every time he had his obligatory breaks when he had used magic, it was nice, having Fenris there, they chatted a little about the hospital, how things worked so Fenris would know what to expect around there. 

By lunch time Anders stretched out after having just had a patient then quietly walked out of his room and smiled as he saw Fenris crouched by some children telling them some wild tale about dragons. Without doubt the tale was one of Hawke's Isabela's and Varrics creations because it was a really grand one.

Anders heart turned into a bit of a mush as he saw the eager children and the elf. So... maybe the elf wasn't just handsome, maybe he also was very sweet person if one could get in under his skin. Anders sighed wistfully, to be perfectly honest, he missed having someone, if not a relationship, he missed just stolen kisses in a store room, waking up feeling comfortably sore from sex, even if he was alone the morning after. 

Fenris looked up and blushed slightly and quickly finished up the tale. He stood up and crossed his arms looking at Anders. The look he was given by the prickly elf was clearly challenge, daring him to say a word about what he had just witnessed. Anders held his hands up in mock playful defense. 

Fenris just rolled his eyes and followed as Anders made his way to the break room to have their lunches. When they sat there eating Elaine per usual joined in the room. She smiled friendly at them before sitting down with them, opening a box of Thai food.  

"I see you look better today Anders, did you sleep?" She asked then smiled at Fenris "Hello there, I am Elaine." She said as she held her hand out for him. 

"Fenris." The elf said shaking hers even if somewhat reluctant.

"He's my new bodyguard, apparently I have friends who think I get into trouble." Anders said and chuckled at the dark joke. "Or they just want me to have someone pretty to look at all day." He hummed glancing over Fenris' chest, catching the roll of eyes from the elf and the little disgusted noise made from the back of his throat.

"Oh, did something happen?" Elaine asked curiously before she ate her food.

Anders told her about the drugging and the stroke of dumb luck that had kept him away from home that night and instead gone to the clinic, how he had moved to some friends house now and how Fenris now had a job as his very own security elf. Fenris didn't really add anything to the story, instead just let Anders be the one to talk. Elaine gasped at all the right places then hugged Anders close when he was finished.

He could have sworn there was a little flicker of tension in Fenris when she moved to hug him but it had been gone quicker than it had appeared. He couldn't put his finger on what it had been either so he pushed it away for a later conversation, the elf couldn't be jealous could he? 

* * *

 

The question popped up later when they sat in the car on their way back home. Anders had been looking out the window, thinking about his day and had suddenly remembered about that flinch from Fenris from earlier.

"You don't like my co-worker much do you?" Anders asked suddenly and looked at the elf.

"I don't." The elf agreed and Anders stared.

He had expected that Fenris the very least would have made up a lie. Maybe tell him that he was imagining things and that he didn't at all have a problem with Elaine. But clearly Fenris was the straight forwards kind of man who wouldn't lie just to be convenient. Somehow, he liked that, it was nice to know Fenris wouldn't lie to him.

"Why?" 

"Her eyes never widened." Fenris said it as if it was obvious.

"Wh... Fenris what?"

"When you told her her had been drugged, she looked surprised but her eyes didn't reflect it."

"Fenris... that's absurd she is a friend." Anders frowned and crossed his arms shaking his head. "No, you are wrong, she is a nice girl."  

Fenris was wrong, simple as that. Elaine was not a bad woman and not the one behind anything. She was a doctor and had heard scary tales from people before, that was the only reason. As they drove into the garage he looked at Fenris again. 

Did Fenris get so protective because it was his job to be? Probably. As Fenris pulled out the key to get out of the car Anders leaned over and placed a careful kiss to his cheek before he pulled back to get out of the car himself.

However as he reached his hand out to the car door he felt Fenris hand on his other arm. He turned to look at Fenris in question, the elf gave a silent little smile then gave a tug. Fenris wanted him closer and Anders wasn't about to give up the opportunity, maybe he'd even get to touch his chest, feel those rippling muscles under that shirt that he'd been thinking about all day. 

He wondered if Fenris maybe wanted another kiss so he leaned in to try to do it again but the elf gave another little tug to get new leverage, Anders would either parry the tug by shuffling closer or fall with his face in Fenris' lap. Not that that would actually be much of a problem, he wondered what Fenris's cock would taste like, he wondered if that lyrium went all the way down there.

Alas, he maneuvered himself over to Fenris' seat and onto the elf's lap, straddling his hips and suddenly there was elf lips on his own and slender hands groping his ass.

The lips were soft, Anders felt it like they were untouched even if they could impossibly be. Fenris kissed like a teenager, with passion, desperation and eagerness, it was exciting and new to kiss Fenris. He let his hands stroke down over the firm muscles over the black fabric covering the elf and it felt just like he'd imagined. When Anders felt a swipe of tongue he eagerly opened his mouth greeting the tongue of the other.

Fenris had a nice taste, he tasted more sweet and sugary than Anders had suspected, a hint of apple and somewhere in the back of his minds he wondered if Fenris was hiding sweets and ate them during the day when no one was watching him, somehow, that perfectly fit in on him. He made a mental note to find out about that another time.

The kisses were slowly shifting from devouring his mouth until Fenris kissed his cheeks, dove down over his neck and shoulders and Anders groaned loudly. He tried to kiss anything he could reach which happened to be a pointed ear. Fenris gasped, his hands curled to the back of his shirt and Anders grinned.

So elves really were sensitive by their ears to these sort of things, he quickly darted his tongue out and licked the shell of his ear and Fenris teeth dug in to the junction between his neck and shoulder making Anders moan by the stinging pleasurable feeling of it. 

"Oh maker Fenris." He groaned taking a deep breath to collect himself. 

Fenris hummed then slowly pulled back and Anders felt his fingers slide over his sides, the elf kept his eyes closed for a while and his lips curled in a little smile sweet smile. Anders pouted slightly, he didn't want the kisses to be over just yet, they had just gotten to the good part and he was rock hard in his tight pants, by the feel of it, Anders wasn't alone. 

He leaned in to try for another kiss but the elf pulled away. Anders would never admit to the unmanly whining noise he made. Fenris just chuckled at the sound and stroke his cheek gently with a soft hand. Anders sighed and looked into those green eyes and his pout turned into a little smile. Elf eyes were always beautiful, but Fenris' were just absolutely stunning. 

"Why did you stop?" He asked and stroke his hand up over Fenris' well shaped chest again. 

"Mage..."

"Anders."

"Anders..." Fenris tested out his name, and it sounded good. "I am not... looking for anything... serious." 

Anders looked at Fenris and the elf glanced away from him. There was something in Fenris' eyes telling Anders that there was no talking around it, Fenris wasn't ready for serious. Anders could accept that. He could also accept that they had just met a few days ago, this was rather sudden for this to happen at all wasn't it? 

"Okay.. how about, I get off your lap and.. if you want it, this never happened." He offered.

"I would... I don't regret it happening..." Anders relaxed slightly, thanks the maker, this would have turned so awkward if things between then had turned weird. "But... I am not..."

"Ready." Anders said when Fenris seemed struggled to find a word for what he wasn't.

Relief spread over the elf and his ears that had sloped some, perked back up and he quickly nodded. Anders felt that little clench loosen up when Fenris ears perked up again, he hadn't even noticed that he'd been so concern until now. Maybe one day the elf would be ready and they could try for something more... why was he even thinking like that? He had known Fenris only a couple of days, not enough to want a future right? 

"Maybe I should get off your lap then."

Fenris chuckled lightly and stroke his hands down his hips and then had a little glint in his eyes and Anders felt interest rise again along with his cock twitching hopefully over maybe have someone other's fingers wrap around it than his own fist.

"Unless.. you want to do something that is not serious." Fenris said suggestive.

Anders breath hitched. Friends with benefits? Or rather, bodyguard with benefits... they'd have sex, just no emotions involved, Anders could do that, Anders had done that with Karl before, he could do that with Fenris. Stolen intimate moments when they both needed some good sex, that sounded like a good deal.

"Maker yes." He breathed out, he just wanted the elf naked. "But maybe in a bedroom? Let's not give Isabela more wood to her fires."

Fenris chuckled and nodded agreeing and Anders scrambled out of the car with the elf just behind him, this was going to be good.

**Author's Note:**

> I really hopes that someone enjoys this, I will continue to write up chapters because I am burning for doctor!Anders and modern AUs. 
> 
> Comments on what you want in this fic are appreciated and taken under consideration, kudos always makes me happy! :) 
> 
> Have a good day people!


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